Final Confrontation
by Jcarlton
Summary: Stories that start before the first MK movie and then pick up after it ended. The world holds surprises for the kombatants once they return from Shang Tsung's island, and some adversaries refuse to stay dead. Note that MK Annihilation never happened.
1. Final Confrontation 1

The newly acquired office building for the U.S. Embassy in Hong Kong looked like a nice improvement when compared to the old one. Lieutenant Richards of the U.S. Army Special Forces was escorting the foreign U.S. delegate inside as they both hastily walked after the colonel. All three men walked inside after the door was opened for them by an aid sent by the local government and proceeded into a hallway.

"Your partner was supposed to meet us here", the well-dressed colonel told the two other men, "I hope she didn't take off because we were late. Where the hell is she?"

The clean-shaven and equally well-dressed lieutenant wasn't impressed, and neither was the delegate who was in an incredibly clean suit.

"You don't just walk away from your assigned post, goddamn it! Who the hell does she think she is?" Richards didn't try to cover up his arrogance. He'd been in a bad mood ever since he was told he was assigned a partner, but the fact that he was assigned with a woman made him feel infinitely worse. She probably got accepted into the Special Forces because of all the feminist equal acceptance nonsense that had been sweeping some organizations, Richards thought to himself.

Just then, his partner appeared from the end of the hallway and walked towards them at a quick pace. Lieutenant Sonya Blade had her blond hair tied in a knot and was dressed in sneakers, a pair of shorts that reached halfway down her thighs and a loose white T-shirt that wasn't even tucked in; not exactly the proper appearance for an Army officer, both Richards and the colonel thought to themselves. Upon reaching the trio, Sonya stopped about five feet away from them and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Gee, guys. _Somebody's_ a little late, no?", she remarked with sarcasm.

"What the hell are you wearing? What's with the outfit?", Richards thought out loud without giving her any explanations, "You're supposed to represent our country here in Hong Kong! What kind of an image is _that_??".

"Is image all you people worry about?...I guess so because you all look great but unfortunately at the same time you show up at a rendezvous over two hours late. It's been a lot of fun watching the paint dry in here all that time...And as for your image, the only thing that's really gonna matter is how good everybody is inside if and when the shooting starts. If you have a loser in a commando outfit, that's not gonna change his performance whatsoever in action, and vice versa!", Sonya was mildly annoyed, but as usual, she was completely under control.

"Well, I sure hope you two enjoy working together", the colonel added with a fake smile and pulled out the orders for the two officers, feeling secretly glad inside that he wasn't in lieutenant Richards' shoes.

The colonel handed a copy of the orders to both officers and quietly walked out feeling relieved. That bitch never belonged in the military to begin with, he thought to himself, she was never concerned about how everyone viewed her in particular and the Army in general, she just followed her instincts and nothing else. It'd be a nice experiment to put lieutenant Blade on the set of a talk show that is being recorded to see what happens, he chuckled as he nodded to the doorman and walked out of the embassy into the streets of Hong Kong. What the hell was the world coming to, he wondered as he headed towards a popular bar that he knew quite well. Visiting a bar was against the rules, but he really didn't care; after all, no one was watching, and that was all that really mattered.

Back inside the new building, after the delegate had left them to get a drink, the two officers were grudgingly going over their new plans after making peace with the fact that they were stuck with each other no matter how they felt.

"Our job is to make sure that entire embassy goes back home in one piece when their stay is done...", Sonya was reviewing the orders, "Baby-sitting somebody is about as boring as it gets, you realize that, don't you?".

"Good thing I'm in such good company then", Richards added.

The sarcasm in Richards' voice was apparent as his partner widened her eyes in response.

"Hey, I don't need an attitude from you, OK?", Sonya replied by pointing her index finger straight at his face.

Getting on each other's nerves obviously wasn't working, so Sonya decided to have some mutual cooperation for both their sake.

"Look...", she sighed, "I think it will be better for us both if we try to get along, OK? Trying to kill each other isn't gonna do either of us any good...The enemy's outside, not in here. If we can't accept each other, who will?".

"Fine", was the only answer she received. It wasn't what she was hoping for, but at least it was better than nothing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

".....when the weapons shipment left for Tokyo, it was intercepted and hijacked. Two of our guys were killed and the entire shipment was gone by the time reinforcement arrived... To be brutally honest, we just weren't ready. We were so soft that a bunch of punks just ate us alive", Sonya kept on with the description of the attack on the lost shipment, "I mean, we were just inviting someone to come in and kick our ass whenever they liked. And, to make things even more interesting, some of our guys who were left described the attackers. I swear those sons of bitches had connections with the Black Dragon; they might've been working for the Black Dragon itself".

"A crime syndicate now takes us down, huh? That's great, just great!", Richards was actually agreeing with something she said, Sonya thought to herself, which was good.

"I'm telling you, though", Sonya went on, "If those pricks try anything while I'm around, they'll get their asses kicked so bad that they'll realize that crime doesn't pay. I'm just waiting for some wiseguy to try something at the conference".

"Well, if anything productive comes out of that conference, it won't be good for the Black Dragon, that's for sure... I just can't imagine so many countries coming together to hit organized crime all at once. I still think it's only a politician's game, though".

"Maybe,", Sonya added, "but who knows? Let's just wait and see. In the meantime, if our guy is gonna go over there in an hour, I better get dressed. I don't think they wanna allow someone in shorts into the conference just like that, although I still think it might give us an advantage in the way of undercover work...When we're in uniform, we're just too damn obvious".

"Nice try, you're still going dressed like the rest of us losers", Richards smiled as his new partner grabbed a gym bag with her commando outfit inside and proceeded to leave the room.

"You said it, not me", she smiled back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In another section of the city, in a bunker under an expensive estate, Kano was busy discussing plans of his own; the conference had to be disrupted, everyone who was around him knew that, but how that was supposed to be achieved was still an issue full of controversy. Kano honestly believed that he had the best idea as he was arguing about details with his major rival for the position of head of the Black Dragon Organization in front of about two dozen subordinates.

"I'm tellin' ya mate,", Kano kept pressing his point of view with his Australian accent, "we have the weapons and the ability. What we need to do is hit these bastards in an open way, show them our defiance in the face of their 'sweeping reform'! We can break in there during their meeting and waste as many of them as possible within ninety seconds and then we'll scram. Then, all these idiots will know the exact position where they stand, which is right under our feet".

Kano was desperately trying to sound brave when debating the means of the attack with his opponent Benson, who still wanted to play it safe. The two men had been committing crimes in the Black Dragon for years, and Benson was always Kano's opposite. Kano was wild and daring while he always looked for the easiest escape route. Safety was the exact issue they were arguing over presently.

"Chances that aren't necessary shouldn't be allowed", Benson countered, "Just one bomb from one of our smarter guys will do as much damage as the army you wanna take there, you lunatic! What if one of these guys gets injured and allows himself to be captured and then spills his guts about the whole organization? You're still gonna be this brave then?".

"There's no way in hell anybody will be taken alive. We resist to the death! Everybody knows that!", Kano barked back, putting Benson down and trying to fire up his subordinates at the same time. This kind of argument had gone one for years as both men had tried to be the sole head of the organization with little success, but they both felt the campaign to strike at an international conference could prove to be the tie breaker in their quest for the top position.

The voices of the subordinates were quietly starting to side with Kano. Realizing this, the crime lord decided to let them come to the decision by themselves, so he turned around and started walking towards the exit door.

"Look, mate,", he announced to no one in particular, "everyone has to make the decision as a group, but the strike isn't at least for another hour or so. Until that happens, I wanna catch a workout first".

With those words, Kano was gone through the doorway. Benson signaled four of the subordinates to go after him, claiming he was worried about his rival's health and well-being.

"You four, stay with him and make sure he doesn't get hurt or killed or something. He better stay in one piece, because I wanna kill him myself when the time comes".

Kano and the four subordinates entered a large gymnasium in the west section of the estate. Inside the gymnasium were several dozens of cages lined up one on top of each other against one of the walls. Inside the different cages were some cats, some monkeys, some large rodents and some chickens. Kano walked up to a pile of three cages that reached about his height and lifted the top one. He stared at the one foot tall monkey inside for a few seconds before shaking the cage vigorously. He shook it just long enough to freak out the monkey inside right before he opened the steel door and let the animal jump out desperately. As the monkey raced on the wooden floor, Kano pulled out a huge, menacing-looking blade from his pants pocket and with a single breath, chased after the animal while the four subordinates looked on.

The monkey had a lot of speed and agility, but it was in Kano's turf, so what it didn't have was a place to run for, since the entire gymnasium was closed like a large box, there were no windows and only one closed door. Kano finally cornered his prey in the intersection of two walls; as he closed in, he knew he would have to move in one quick motion. He lunged forward with the knife in his right hand and grabbed the terrified monkey with his left. The animal's desperate efforts to get away were clearly no match for Kano's grip.

"Not a bad run, mate", Kano looked down and addressed his prey with a smile, "You gave me a pretty good workout".

With those words, Kano gripped the monkey's head with his left hand and slowly slit its throat with the knife. All the animals in the cages shrieked and panicked as soon as he let the monkey go. On the clean, shiny floor of the gymnasium, the monkey gasped, coughed and flung its arms into the empty space all around it as the pool of blood that it was lying in kept spreading larger and larger. The screams of the remaining animals ceased when the monkey stopped moving and just remained face-down in its own blood. Seeing that, Kano turned around from the bloody scene, cleaned his knife with a towel and walked towards the four subordinates. He didn't stop as he reached them, he proceeded to leave the gymnasium all together, but before he exited, he addressed the four men in an authoritative voice.

"Clean that up, will ya'?", was the only thing they heard from him before he opened the door and vanished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As all the foreign diplomats were getting ready to officially start the meeting, Sonya and her partner walked inside the 13th floor of the thirty storied building, following a few feet behind the American ambassador who had been sent here. Both their outfits stood out because everyone else in the place was dressed formally and the two partners were dressed in pitch black commando outfits; neither one seemed to mind the blank stares they were getting, though.

While the minutes passed and everyone who was sent as a participating country's representative sat around a large rectangular table, numbers were used to inform the attendants of the urgency of the problem; the number of lives lost to organized criminal activity and the billions of dollars lost in property damage were the first things pointed out. A speech describing organized crime as being an immoral activity followed the numbers. Lieutenant Richards personally thought it was all very boring as he and Sonya stood erect on both sides of the main door and carefully looked over everyone who was present, just to make sure that no one got any bright ideas. After all, they both knew that the Black Dragon was very rich and that many people in society in general could be bought if the price was right.

When the routine visual check was still going on, both partners suddenly had their attention diverged from their task by a faint sound. They both realized that it was the sound of a helicopter approaching. None of the diplomats seemed to hear, or if they heard it, they didn't give it much importance. But the sound of the rotor blades kept getting closer and closer until it was obvious that it was right next to the building. Most of the diplomats looked up, wondering what was going on just a few seconds before the side of the wall that the two officers were facing blew in from outside with a loud explosion and sent concrete and glass in all directions. Most diplomats were hit by those pieces of stone or glass as they fell out of their chair and scrambled for the exit doors in a panicked state because they finally realized something was wrong. Sonya and Richards recovered from the shock very quickly.

"GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!", Richards was screaming as Sonya signaled the direction of the main door with one arm while retrieving her 9mm Glock with the other. Just then, a rope appeared dangling a foot or two outside the fifteen-foot wide hole in the wall right before someone dressed in military fatigue used it to jump into the room. The person had an AK-47 strapped to his chest which he pulled out as soon as both his feet were securely on the floor. Without aiming, the intruder stepped inside and led off a hail of bullets towards the general direction of the retreating diplomats. All his initial rounds ended up punching holes in the wall opposite him, where Sonya and her partner were still standing at their full height. Before the guy got another chance to fire, maybe with better accuracy, Sonya and Richards aimed their 9mm pistol directly at his chest; Richards fired three times and Sonya twice. Their target shrieked, dropped his weapon and fell on his back with five clean holes in his upper body.

As he lay in front of the giant hole, the intruder was desperately trying to hold on by pressing his feet against the floor while his life quickly drained out of his body. But he wasn't alone because three more ropes appeared just before three new intruders slipped from the helicopter into the room. They were dressed and armed just like the first one and, seeing their colleague dead, they knew there was resistance. But that knowledge didn't help them because Sonya already had the one at the farthest left of the three within her sights as she still had her hands extended at an arm's length in front of her face holding the pistol. She pulled the trigger once and a round exploded into the second intruder's chest; since this one was just on the edge of the hole, he was thrown back and gave out a yell as he fell thirteen stories down.

Richards aimed for the middle of the three men as that one was still pulling out his AK-47 and pumped two rounds into him, flattening him against the wall at his full height and then leaving a red streak on the wall as he sank towards the floor. The third one, though, pulled out his AK-47 in time, stepped over the body of the original intruder and fired over twenty rounds at the disorganized diplomats, still adding on to the confusion. At least a pair of diplomats were mercilessly cut in half by his bullets as the intruder was cheering before both officers concentrated their fire on him and cut him down in his turn; as that one went down, his body shook vigorously and his AK-47 kept spitting out bullets in every direction as another diplomat was hit before he slammed on the floor and finally stopped moving.

Five more new intruders showed up at the hole as Sonya and Richards overturned two tables into a vertical position and ducked behind them for cover to give themselves a better edge while the last of the surviving diplomats bailed out of the room. But this time, the Black Dragon soldiers were more ready for a confrontation because all five charged straight for the two Army officers without pulling their AK-47s out. Both Sonya and Richards aimed, fired and were able to drop one each before the remaining three tackled the table and then them with full force. Two of them started struggling with Richards as the third slammed Sonya's back against the wall and fought for control of her semi-automatic. During the struggle, Sonya saw other Black Dragon invaders coming from outside but just running past them with the AK-47s at the ready, since they were clearly after the diplomats and not the two of them. As her opponent tried to point the muzzle of the pistol towards her, Sonya kicked him right below the knee, possibly breaking his leg. As he screamed in pain and let go of her handgun, she pressed the muzzle right below his throat and pulled the trigger once. The bullet went out her opponent's back and Sonya's chest was splattered with drops of his blood as he dropped without a sound.

She then looked over to where Richards and the two other intruders were struggling just in time to see one intruder hold her partner from behind and the other intruder stab him in the heart with a hunting knife right before cutting his throat. The intruder holding the knife dropped it on the floor as Richards slumped forward holding his throat and gasping as the artificial light in the room glinted off the intruder's metallic eye.

"Richards! NOOO!", Sonya screamed as she leveled the Glock in front of her face and fired four times. But she was so upset that all four rounds missed their targets and the two men who had murdered her partner simply ran back to the hole in the wall, grabbed two of the many ropes there and were pulled up by the chopper. Sonya could've opened fire again as they were retreating, but she rushed to her partner instead to try to save him. As soon as she reached him, though, she knew that he was long gone.

Amid all the debris and all the dead bodies, there was only one thing for her to do, and that was to go after the intruders who had slipped past her during the hand-to-hand struggle. She took her partner's pistol as well as hers and leveled both at arm's length in front of her shoulders before quickly walking out of the room. Her throat felt so tight with grief that she thought there was a noose around it, but she couldn't think about that now.

She emerged into a hallway at the end of which she heard some automatic weapons fire. When approaching the end of the hallway at a fast pace, she had to walk by some rooms whose doors were left open. As she reached one of the open doorways, she didn't notice a lead pipe coming down on her arms until it was too late. The pipe hit her on the forearms and she lost both handguns; then, just as fast as the first hit, someone's closed fist from the doorway punched her in the jaw.

"Aaaaah!", was the only instinctive result Sonya screamed out as she was hurled towards the opposite wall about ten feet away.

The impact against the wall forced her down on her knees as she opened her mouth and eyes wide in order to recover from the painful blow to the head. From the doorway, the assailant emerged and Sonya recognized who he was.

"Well, well. Look who it is. The one and only Benson. The head of the Black Dragons", she told herself out loud.

"_One_ of the heads, bitch, not the sole one. And as you can see, I aien't shy about hitting a woman, if that's what you call yourself", Benson replied with the lead pipe still in his left hand as he kicked both Glocks away, "Of course, if my man Kano had listened to me and just that bomb, we wouldn't be here and we wouldn't have lost all those guys just now. But no! Kano _had_ to show off!".

Benson raised his hands above his head as he was describing Kano, whom he clearly disliked.

"Of course,", he went on, "I saw what he did here just now to that partner of yours. He was the one who cut the asshole's throat and when I go back, I'm never gonna hear the end of how he wasted a Special Forces grunt. He's gonna have something to hold over my head... That is, unless I kill a Special Forces grunt of my own".

With those words, Benson took two steps towards Sonya, but he wasn't through talking.

"But, you're a bit better looking than your partner was,", he added, "so maybe I'll have some fun with you first before you meet your maker".

Without saying anything else, Benson loosened his belt and undid the button of his camouflage pants with his right hand. He then proceeded to lower the zipper as he menacingly got closer. But Sonya pressed her hands palm-down against the wall behind and used it as leverage to stand back up on her feet because she definitely had different ideas.

"You wanna have fun?", she asked him, "Have fun with this!".

Sonya twisted around and kicked him straight in the stomach. The force of her kick sent Benson staggering back into the room from which he had emerged. Inside, he slammed against the wall and lost the lead pipe as he bent over, gasping for breath. Sonya followed him inside without even bothering to pick up her pistols. She had a really mean look on her face because her grief over her partner had suddenly turned to pure anger.

"I can see why you wanna resort to raping", she told him, "With an ugly face like that, even hookers probably stay away from you".

Benson wasn't about to give up, so he charged towards her with all his strength. But Sonya was more than ready because she twisted to her side and kicked him in the head as he reached her. As her ankle impacted against his jaw, Benson flew fifteen feet away and landed on the floor in sheer agony. Sonya calmly walked over to him, pulled him up by his shirt collar with her left hand and brought him up to his knees. She looked down on him with simple hatred for a split second before she started punching him in the jaw with her closed right fist over a dozen times very fast within a handful of seconds. Benson's head was snapping back and forth like a speedbag as she kept on disfiguring him for what happened to her partner and those diplomats and also for what he tried to do to her. When the punches ceased, Benson was spitting out blood and some teeth as Sonya then picked him up to his full height right in front of her and gave him one last comment to hear.

"Have fun, asshole!", was the only thing Benson heard before she sent her right foot with all her strength right between his legs. The force of the kick sent Benson vertically about a foot high into the air before he fell back on the floor, curled his body into a ball and moaned in pain.

"You may consider yourself placed in my custody, tough guy", was the next thing he heard from the lady before she exited the room to retrieve her pistols. The only sound he was emanating was "Ugghhhh! Uggghhh!..." as he gasped for breath.

A few seconds later, she came back in with both semiautomatics tucked in her belt. Benson, at that time, couldn't believe what had happened; he was lying on the floor after getting beaten up by a woman. All his hatred towards her started making him forget his pain since he wasn't used to being on the receiving end of this kind of humiliation. When he saw her, he stood back up with some difficulty, spat out two more bloody teeth and picked up his lead pipe again with his left hand. From over a dozen feet away, he lunged towards her, yelling at the top of his lungs and holding the lead pipe over his head. But animal instinct is never a match for a controlled mind. As he was about six feet away, Sonya flipped upside down on her two hands, placed both her ankles firmly around his chest and leg tossed him over her. Benson shrieked as he was lifted off his feet and was flying. Since the room was relatively small and Sonya had just entered, instead of landing on the floor after a 180 degree flight, Benson impacted head-first into the wall behind her. After she let go of him and came back on her feet, Sonya realized right away that there was no point in taking him in because the blow against the way had broken his neck. All the better, she thought to herself, as she pulled the two Glocks out and ran back towards the end of the hallway.

As she reached her destination, she stumbled upon at least a dozen bodies. Three were members of the Black Dragon as identified by their clothes, but the rest were either diplomats or security guards. From the looks of it, it seemed like the security personnel assigned for the building were putting up a brave fight, but they were badly outgunned; it was AK-47s against revolvers and that's why seven guards were gunned down as compared to three intruders. But the automatic gunfire could still be heard somewhere else, and she ran towards it determined to stop the remaining terrorists before any more innocent lives were lost.

Upon reaching the source of the gunfire, she realized there was just one more intruder standing. A single Black Dragon soldier, with the bodies of one of his comrades and two more diplomats near him, was keeping half a dozen security guards and police officers at bay. The remaining terrorist was crouched behind a desk with his back to Sonya and was facing his opponents who also had taken cover. The security guards and police officers clearly saw Sonya and stopped firing, but the Black Dragon terrorist didn't since he was only staring straight ahead and squeezing the trigger as hard as he could. That was the last thing he did because Sonya pulled the trigger of both handguns at once and two rounds simultaneously hit her target in the back, about six inches apart from each other. The target screamed and slumped forward on the desk after letting go of his AK-47 as the piercing sound of the gunfire abruptly stopped, although the smell of lead remained. The terrorist was still alive as the law officers cautiously closed in on him with their handguns at the ready.

Seeing that, Sonya turned around without word and walked back to her fallen partner, still holding on to her gun and to his. She walked past the dozen plus bodies, walked into the hallway, past the room where Benson lay lifelessly and reached the conference room where the confrontation had initiated. No one other than her was moving as she walked over to where lieutenant Richards was in order to take one last look at him. She squatted down next to him to see his face and felt about what happened; it was just like those cowards from the Black Dragon to jump someone after they had him outnumbered two to one, she thought to herself as she let both pistols slip out of her hands. Since the top half of the standard Special Forces commando outfit consisted of a black tank top and a black sweatshirt, she took off the sweatshirt and ceremoniously covered her partner's face and throat with it.

Sonya then heard something terrifying; the rotor blades of the helicopter were back. She instantly grabbed the two Glocks from the floor, stood back up and rushed over to the hole the explosion had created in the wall. She had a clear view of the Black Dragon helicopter with the occupants, who were dressed exactly like the intruders, inside as the chopper was hovering about two floors above her room. The person who had murdered her partner was still alive in the helicopter, so she aimed for it with both pistols and pulled the triggers as many times as she could before her weapons were empty. The helicopter didn't even seem to be scratched, though, and from the amount of hatred she felt inside, Sonya wasn't about to give up. She dropped the two pistols and looked around, spotting an AK-47 that belonged to one of the dead intruders nearby. She grabbed it and screamed as she pointed it towards the ever-present helicopter. Unfortunately, as she did that, she also saw that one of the occupants of the hovering helicopter had a shoulder propelled rocket launcher aimed at her.

"Oh shit!!", was the only thing she yelled out as she dropped the AK-47 and ran for the door leading to the hallway. Just as she bolted through the doorway, a rocket came through the giant hole in the wall and exploded into the floor of the conference room. All the rubble, furniture and bodies on the thirteenth story conference room were then dropped into the twelfth story room right below as a second giant hole opened up in the floor.

Looking back, Sonya saw that there was nothing left of the conference room on the thirteenth floor. She was covered with dust but was otherwise unhurt. This fight wasn't over, she thought to herself, because whoever started it was going to pay.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the hours passed after the helicopter was gone, Sonya was led outside along with the many occupants of the building by the police officers and Army personnel who answered the distress call. Outside the damaged building, she just sat on the edge of the sidewalk across the street and looked up at the giant hole the original rocket had created with despair. Emergency officials were rushing past her as if she wasn't even there, and that was fine with her since she just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts and without any other human contact right now. While staring across the street over time, her eyes eventually got hold of the emergency officials exiting the main entrance of the building. None of them was working hard to try to save anyone's life, though, and that was simply because there were no lives to save. People were going in, putting the corpses in a body bag, putting the bag on a stretcher and pushing the stretcher towards an ambulance. She knew that inside one of those body bags was her partner, but it didn't stop with him of course; there were many more following. She watched the seemingly infinite line of bags exiting the building for a few minutes. She then put her head in both her hands and lowered her head towards the ground while closing her eyes for a few seconds. Just then, an outside voice interrupted her peace.

"Lieutenant Blade?", a man's shaky voice called her from a few feet away.

Sonya didn't know who it was and she really didn't want to know, just like she didn't want to open her eyes or answer. But she knew she had to answer; she couldn't remain in the enveloping darkness forever, unfortunately.

"Yeah, what?", she answered without raising her head or opening her eyes. When she didn't hear any answer, she knew she had to look up. So she opened her eyes, pulled her face up towards the sky and realized the man she was addressing was the diplomat she and her partner had escorted here. He was clearly shaken up and his 3-piece suit was a mess, but at least there weren't any holes in him. After making eye contact with him for a brief second, Sonya turned her attention back towards the building.

"What's on your mind?", she asked him indirectly. She wanted to be left alone pretty back, but if this guy wanted to talk, she wouldn't refuse.

"Well", the diplomat answered, "I wanted to...To inquire...Is lieutenant Richards OK?...I know I heard a lot of shooting after I was out of that room. What happened?".

"My partner didn't make it", she answered without moving any muscle except for her mouth and still staring straight ahead.

"Oh my God!", the diplomat's voice got even more shaky than before, "I'm so sorry. What happened?".

"They jumped us. It was three on two. I got lucky", she answered, "One tackled me, but two tackled him".

"I feel terrible", the diplomat announced to no one in particular.

"Me too", Sonya rigidly replied, still staring straight ahead.

"I mean, you two saved my life. I owe you two more than I can ever repay. Especially him".

"Don't worry about it".

"I mean, I don't even know your name. All they said was 'this is lieutenant Richards, this is lieutenant Blade' and that was it", he said as he cleared tears out of his eyes.

"It's Sonya", she said as she looked up at him once more and extended her right hand.

"I'm James", the diplomat said as he shook it, "Look, if there's ever anything I can do for you, you just need to ask".

Hearing that, Sonya figured it was only appropriate to stand up. As she gained her balance and got back on her feet, a large amount of dust settled around the area of the sidewalk where she was since her pants and tank top were still covered from top to bottom.

"Well, thanks for the offer, but I'm fine", she told him, "Just try to be nice".

"I will, really", the diplomat answered, "And if you change your mind, just call the embassy, they'll know how to contact my private office...Thinking of calling, I oughta call my wife in the states before she hears about this on the news".

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea", she forced a small smile on her face to assure him that she'd be OK when he left, so he did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the Army base, Sonya walked into the barracks and came face-to-face with the colonel who had assigned Richards with her and a younger, black officer in a black commando outfit just like hers, except that hers was a lot more messy. The two men were watching a news report when she had walked in.

"....and the attack was the worst that people here could remember", the TV reporter went on, "At least 25 people are counted to be dead so far and the entire downtown Hong Kong was a mess this day because...", the colonel shut the TV screen off with a remote control.

"This isn't gonna be good for us, you know", the colonel addressed both her and the other officer, "The president is disappointed by our actions".

When he mentioned the president, he looked straight at her and Sonya was not in any mood to take criticism.

"Say _what_?!?!", she snapped, "Nobody here had any idea those sons of bitches from the Black Dragon would try something like this! We were outnumbered and outgunned! Richards gave his life trying to protect those diplomats and so did God knows how many other guys in that building. Those guys knew they were at an incredible disadvantage against those AK-47s, but they decided to fight back anyway!...We lost a lot of heroes in that building! So why don't you just tell the president to take his disappointment and to shove it up his ass?".

With that sharp retaliation, Sonya added "Jeez!" and moved towards a hallway in the barracks where she knew she could finally get a shower and a change of clothes. She didn't know why the colonel was acting like this and she didn't care. She was too exhausted to care about some politician's motives.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After getting cleaned up, Sonya was sitting at a desk and satisfying her hunger by munching down on ham and cheese sandwiches and a can of soda. It felt good to be wearing her familiar shorts and T-shirt again as well as having her hair combed, but there was no internal comfort and she was thinking of what she had to do to resolve her personal conflicts.

She was busy making a second sandwich disappear when the black officer who was with the colonel walked into the room and introduced himself. He was still wearing his commando uniform, but had no name tag, unlike most.

"Hi, I'm Jackson, I knew lieutenant Richards from way back. I'm sorry about what happened to him".

"Yeah", was Sonya's only answer as she still had her mouth full.

"How long were you two partners?", he asked.

"About three hours", was her frank answer.

"The coroner said he died from a stab wound to the heart. Is the motherfucker who did it dead? Do you know?".

"He got away", Sonya replied as she finished the second sandwich, "Jackson, is it?".

"Call me Jax, everyone else does", Jackson told her with a smile. It was a very nice gesture, but Sonya didn't feel like smiling back today.

"Well, Jax, I know who did it. Benson mentioned his name before he died".

"Yeah, this Benson guy. Nice work you did on him. The guy's wanted in over two dozen countries. But one thing is for sure, he aien't gonna bother anybody else. What happened today was ironic, actually. The only person who survived after getting shot was that asshole that you popped twice in the back".

"The last one?".

"Yeah, he made it through surgery. When he wakes up, we're waiting to ask him some questions".

"This other guy, Benson said his name was Kano. He said he was one of the heads of the Black Dragon".

"Is this him?", Jax pulled out a wallet-size picture and held it within a few inches of Sonya's face. The face in the picture was exactly who Sonya saw cutting her partner's throat, there was no mistaking the face, the beard and especially the metallic right eye.

"Yeah, that was him", she answered him almost instantly.

"Well, this guy is even worse than Benson was", Jax informed her, "He's definitely dangerous. Especially now that Benson's out of the picture; he has total control of the Black Dragons".

"I don't care", Sonya flatly answered as she picked up her soda can, "I aien't resting until he's either dead or in custody...Preferably dead".

"Look, sergeant...", Jax tried to reason with her.

"I'm a lieutenant!", Sonya interrupted.

"Sergeant, lieutenant...I'm still your superior", Jax went on with a temporary smirk, "Not resting until this guy is down aien't a good idea".

"Don't give me a speech Jax", Sonya looked away as she began sipping.

"Look, we're gonna get at least another chance with this character, maybe real soon. If the shooting starts and you're exhausted, that's not gonna help anybody, except maybe Kano himself. Just get some rest, you need it after what happened today. If Richards was here, that's what he'd say. If anything happens, I'll make sure you're notified".

Sonya didn't like the idea, but she had to admit to herself that her eyes were getting heavier every minute. So she realized she had to take Jax's advice.

"Allright, fine. But you _will_ let me know if anything happens", it sounded more like an order than a request.

"I promise", Jax replied as he leaned on the desk.

"Thanks", was the only thing she could think of saying as she emptied the soda can and got up to head for bed and get some sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rolling around on her bunk bed, which was about a foot off the floor, Sonya was asleep after a handful of minutes and she was dreaming. She saw herself walking on a busy street with her deceased twin brother, Daniel. The rain was pouring down hard, but neither one of them seemed to notice that they were getting drenched. They finally followed the crowd up a staircase and through the main entrance of a large, fancily decorated building. Once inside from the rain, she and her brother stopped while the crowd kept walking by. Sonya looked around the interior of the place and couldn't recognize it.

"Danny,", she addressed her brother, "I think we're in the wrong place".

Her brother seemed annoyed at her comment and snapped back.

"Can't you do _anything_ right?"....

Just then, Sonya opened her eyes in the darkness and knew that she was awake. Sitting up in bed, she saw through a small window of her barracks that it was still pitch-black outside. She reached over for her wristwatch on the floor. Feeling the muzzle of her Glock, she knew the watch was about six inches to its left and thus got her fingers around it. As she brought the wristwatch within a few inches of her face, she turned a small light inside the watch on and saw that it was about 3:20 AM. Exhaling loudly through her mouth, she dropped the watch back on the floor as she remained seated on the bunk bed. She wondered what had prompted her to dream about her dead brother as she wiped the sweat off her forehead with her left palm. It might've been possible that Richards' death brought back some memories about her twin brother since both guys looked somewhat alike, but Sonya couldn't understand the meaning of the dream. She asked herself why Daniel had snapped at her in such a way; it's not like she screwed up during the confrontation against the Black Dragon and she knew for a fact that she didn't feel guilty over what happened to her partner or to her brother years ago. There was a difference between feeling bad and feeling guilty.

After thinking about it for several minutes, she couldn't come up with an answer so she just crashed her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, waiting for the sun to come back and hoping to fall asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Sonya opened her eyes again, the sun was up and it was almost 7:30 in the morning. She twisted around, put both her feet on the floor and sat up as she picked up the wristwatch and the Glock. She then stood up and proceeded to leave the barracks barefoot. Just as she exited the room, she saw Jax coming towards her from the direction that she was heading towards. Jax didn't seem to have changed a bit since last night, since his commando outfit looked exactly the same way it did the last time Sonya talked to him. Sonya looked the same as she did last night too, but the only difference was that last night, she was wearing a shirt, shorts and sneakers and right now the sneakers were nowhere to be found.

"I'm glad you're awake", Jax called out from fifteen feet away as they came closer, "We just finished interrogating the intruder who survived yesterday and he spilled his guts. We might know where Kano is gonna be tonight".

"Great! Where?", Sonya strapped the watch around her wrist.

"Come with me", Jax signaled with one hand, "There's a meeting going on right now".

Jax led her to a small conference area where the colonel was busy talking with four other men. One of the men was at least in his late 50's while the other three were approximately her age.

"This is lieutenant Blade", Jax announced to the four men as Sonya followed him into the room and set the pistol down on a table. The four men and the colonel were clearly astonished at her appearance, but no one said anything out loud.

"Unless Kano changed his mind last night, he's gonna attend a party tonight downtown", Jax clued her in.

"That's great! We can grab him if he's there!", Sonya instantly exclaimed, slamming her closed right fist into her open left palm.

"No, lieutenant, _we'll_ be doing that", the oldest man of the four answered.

"They're with the FBI", Jax went on, "They're running the show".

"Yeah, right!", Sonya wasn't about to let anything get in her way, "He killed one of us. So _we_ get him!".

"I'm sorry lieutenant,", the older man countered, "but the FBI has jurisdiction. We're to extradite him back to the states so he can answer to federal charges...".

Sonya's answer to him was a sarcastic and unimpressed smile as he continued.

"Of course, if you want to assist, I think we can allow that this time".

"Assist?!?! Kano's mine!!!!! No one else's!!!!!", Sonya was almost screaming by now as if she'd been insulted.

Looking at her colonel, Sonya could see that his facial expression was nonverbally telling her not to interfere. She couldn't take on the entire system, so she had to concede defeat, for now.

Assistant director Bradley, as the man in his late 50's introduced himself, set out to explain his plan. The party that Kano was attending was taking place inside a high-rise which had 38 floors. Assuming Kano was spotted, they would 'neutralize' him, take him to the roof and be picked up by a helicopter. Two of the younger agents, Johnson and Cain, would be piloting the helicopter while the third, Brighton, would bring them Kano. Of course, since Sonya simply had to get involved, Bradley fit her in with Brighton. Sonya really didn't like the way his plan was going on and said so. Her opinion was duly noted, but that's about as far as it went.

"You guys are treating Kano like he's a common criminal", she kept objecting even though no one was interested in what she had to say, "He's not. He has a million connections as the leader of the Black Dragon, especially now that Benson's dead. What're you gonna do afterwards? Drag him back to the states, read him his rights and consider freeing him on bail? This guy's a monster, we shouldn't give him due process. He's too damn dangerous".

"We _have_ done this before, you know", Brighton coldly replied, "You just expect us to put a bullet through his head execution-style?".

"Of course not", the colonel promptly replied.

"That's not a bad idea", Sonya answered the young agent.

"Lady,", Brighton was annoyed, "we've spent the last ten months gathering evidence and going after Kano. How long have _you _been after him?".

Sonya chose not to answer his question because it was going to sound ridiculous if she said 'Twelve hours' as a response, so she just kept her mouth shut. It was apparent from the expression on agent Brighton's face that he didn't like the idea of having someone else accompany him as he was zeroing in on Kano. After all the time he had spent on this case, grabbing Kano was supposed to be his privilege alone, but it seemed now that he had to share it.

As the argument was proceeding, it was clear Sonya was on the losing side, especially since Jax didn't open his mouth once and she went up alone against five opponents, so she was forced to go along with the original plan.

Afterwards, when she and Jax walked out after the meeting was over, she had to know if he decided to participate.

"Are you coming along tonight?", she asked him.

"What's the point? And I don't see why _you_ want to. These guys wanna do things their way and they'll get the job done", Jax answered.

"How can you say 'what's the point'?", Sonya was surprised, "I thought Richards was your friend!".

"He was! But what is being there for the big bust gonna do? It aien't gonna bring him back.... What? You think you're gonna feet better after you have a small hand in taking him in?".

"Yeah!", was her snappy answer.

"Look, if you wanna live like that, then fine", Jax told her, "But I know better".

With those words, Jax walked away and left her surprised. She didn't understand why he said what he did, but for now, she had to run to get ready for tonight's hunt. First thing she needed to do was to put some shoes on.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the hours went by and the morning turned to evening, Sonya got her instructions from Bradley. She received a waitress' uniform from Bradley so she'd be able to infiltrate the party without standing out. She didn't know how Bradley got the uniform so fast, but she wasn't concerned about it; the only thing on her mind was getting the night over with.

Sonya was sitting in the back seat of the four-door vehicle with Brighton in the front passenger seat as Bradley was driving towards their destination. As they were nearing the high-rise, Bradley asked them both if they were allright with the idea of going after Kano alone. He couldn't realistically do anything about it if they had a problem with the idea, except perhaps give some encouragement, but Sonya didn't answer since she was fine. She was looking at the back of Brighton's head as the agent was staring straight ahead as the high-rise where the party was taking place got closer and closer each second.

"The party's over for this guy, boss", Brighton addressed Bradley without looking at him, "He's going down; because I'm gonna be the party crasher".

Once Bradley parked the car in front of the high-rise, all three got out at once. Outside the main entrance, all three got together before going inside. Sonya was wearing the waitress uniform as Bradley and Brighton had a tuxedo on. She felt weird in a dress, but whatever sacrifices had to be done to try to grab Kano were worth it. As they entered the building, Bradley separated from the two of them and walked towards the elevators.

"Good luck, kids", was what they heard from him as he headed for the 35th floor.

Walking around for about ten minutes, pretending to be enjoying themselves, they spotted Kano drinking champagne from a bottle while everyone around him was drinking from a glass. He appeared to really be enjoying himself dressed in the suit and tie as he laughed heartily with some of the other guests.

"Well, he's got guts showing his face after yesterday, that's for sure", Sonya whispered to her partner, who simply looked at the criminal with a cold stare.

Partying, Kano left the other guests while still holding on to the bottle and started walking away from the main crowd. The blonde waitress and her apparent date who seemed handcuffed to her followed. Gulping more champagne, Kano proceeded into a hallway that led out of the main room. Sonya and Brighton were only about twenty seconds behind, but when they reached the origin of the hallway, they saw that there were two 90 degree divisions that cut across the hall, one leading to the left and one to the right.

"I'll take the left! If you see him, grab him and meet us on the 35th! Be careful!", Sonya exclaimed as she quickly walked towards the intersection, followed closely by Brighton.

She almost started running towards the left while her partner headed in the opposite direction. Rushing in a dress was as uncomfortable as could be, but she kept hurrying on until the hallway led her to a 90 degree right. Turning the corner, she spotted Kano about twenty yards away getting into an elevator door that had just opened. She hurried over and squeezed into the elevator just as the door was closing. She caught her breath as Kano pressed the button for the 17th floor and took another sip from the bottle. He then stared at her and smiled.

"Gee, why isn't a pretty thing such as yourself staying at the party and entertaining the guests?", he asked, "Isn't that what they pay you for?".

"Yeaaah!", Sonya answered with a fake laugh, "But I got a small problem upstairs".

"Well, I'm on my way to meet a very expensive call girl,", Kano informed her, "but when I'm done, maybe you and I could get together afterwards. I pay _real_ good if you can satisfy me".

"Really?", she answered with that stupid smile still on her face, trying to sound like she was interested, "But why wait? Why don't you have me first?".

"Well...I dunno....", Kano was playing hard-to-get as he raised the bottle above his head for another sip.

"Come oooooon!", she kept smiling as she put one finger from her right hand on his shoulder and slowly brought it towards his neck, "I can do everything your date can do. The only difference is I can do it better".

She brought her face within two inches of his and whispered "Much better".

The smile on Kano's face widened.

"Well, you gotta understand, baby", he answered, "This date is prepaid for; if I don't show up, I don't get my money's worth".

"Ooooooh!", Sonya acted upset in a spoiled way, "Well, tell you what. Why don't you see what I have to offer and then decide whether I get to be first or second".

With those words, Sonya brought both her hands to the top button of her blouse. The waitress outfit had half a dozen buttons on the front and, with Kano's eyes strictly on her hands, she started unbuttoning the top one. That was the last thing Kano saw because just then, she closed her right hand into a fist, pulled her right arm back and punched him in the jaw. Kano screamed, twisted around and slammed into the elevator controls behind him as he let go of his bottle, which smashed on the floor. Before giving him a chance to recover, Sonya grabbed him by the hair on the back of his head and, with all her strength, drove his face into the elevator door, denting it. Kano's body fell unconscious on the floor just as the elevator reached the 17th floor and the dented door opened up. There was a couple in their sixties waiting a few feet away to get in. They were obviously amazed at what they saw.

"What happened?", the man asked with his eyes wide open.

"Oh", Sonya answered him with yet another fake smile as she squatted next to Kano to supposedly help him up, "He had too much to drink. I was trying to help him to his room, when, I guess he passed out and he hit his head on the door here".

"Uh, do you want some help to take him to his room?", the woman offered.

"No, no, I'm fine. We were just going upstairs", Sonya wanted to get rid of them fast, "Are you folks going to the party downstairs?".

"Well, yes", the man answered.

"I'm sorry. You can't take this elevator. I gotta take him upstairs, you know", she laughed after she said it like everything was all very amusing.

"Oh, that's fine. We'll wait for the next one", was the couple's fortunate answer as Sonya hit the button for the 35th floor and the dented door closed again.

As the elevator was climbing towards floor #35, Sonya pulled out a pair of handcuffs and secured Kano's wrists together behind his back. She then hoisted him up by his collar to his full height and squatted in front of him to bring her right shoulder in front of his stomach. Then, she stood up as she wrapped her right arm around his lower back and her left arm around the back of his thighs. Carrying his entire weight on her shoulder was a challenge, but she could handle it.

When the elevator finally hit #35 and the door opened, she walked out hoping no one was around, and no one was as she carried Kano to room 3522, where Bradley was waiting. Upon reaching the door marked that number, she knocked on it three times with her left elbow since she couldn't free either one of her hands. Bradley opened it within seconds and let her in.

"Where's Brighton?", was the first thing the assistant director asked as she walked in and put Kano down on the floor.

"We got separated...Call him back up here", she told him.

Bradley pulled out a small radio, extended the antenna and spoke into it.

"Brighton, do you read me?".

"Brighton here", was the answer on the other end.

"Sonya has Kano. Come on up".

"I'm on my way".

"We should head for the roof right now", Bradley told her as he pressed a blue button on a device, "That told the other two boys that we got what we came for. Brighton will meet us there".

As Sonya picked Kano back up, Bradley didn't feel right about letting her do the heavy work.

"You need any help with that, by the way?", he asked.

"I'm fine", she answered as she loaded Kano's entire weight on her left shoulder this time, "Just get the door".

The trio headed back for the elevator and Bradley pressed the upward arrow to call it. After a nervous minute on the incredibly quiet 35th floor, the elevator door opened and they got on it. Bradley pressed the button for floor #38 as soon as Sonya stepped inside and they were on their way...Once on the 38th floor, it was a short, though excruciating, walk until finding the doorway to the roof and the clear night sky where Sonya could put Kano down again and start rubbing her shoulders.

One minute passed, then two, then three. The helicopter wasn't supposed to be this late, and neither was Brighton.

"Where the hell _are_ then?", Sonya exclaimed as she was pacing back and forth. She didn't try to hide the fact that she was nervous.

"Relax, lieutenant, I'm sure they'll be here", Bradley calmly replied.

"Well, _you_ sure got a lot of faith in 'em", Sonya told him as she stopped pacing and faced him from fifteen feet away.

"Hey, they're my boys. They deserve it".

"Your _kids_? All three of them?", she was astonished.

"Not my _real_ kids, lieutenant...I never married, never had a family...These guys have been working with me for the last five years..They _became_ my family".

"Huh".

"I tell you. Those three kids have a hell of a lot more fire than I did when I was their age...They're the one reason I'm sure this world isn't going down the drain. You remind me a lot of them, actually".

"Thanks", she answered, flattered by the comment.

"Do you have a family, lieutenant?", Bradley asked next.

"I got parents back in the states, does that count?".

"Well, if your parents are still alive, that's nice, of course. But I'm talking about a husband and kids".

"Hell, no".

"Huh. Well, take my advice and don't be like me", Bradley warned her, "I served with one type of law enforcement or another for almost 35 years now. I was so busy enforcing the law that I forgot there were other things in life... Believe me, serving your country is great, but you gotta keep everything in perspective. If you have a chance with a nice young man, don't sacrifice it for your job. I keep warning these kids about it, but so far, they don't listen".

"I'll keep that in mind", Sonya told him, and she would.

As she said that, she heard Kano moaning on the floor. She saw him move a few seconds later.

"Well, well", Sonya crossed her arms looking down at him, "Look who's awake".

Kano started laughing as he was lying face down; not exactly the kind of reaction one would expect from someone who just got caught, Sonya thought to herself.

"What the _hell_ are you laughing at?!", she snapped at him.

"I'm surprised, baby", Kano kept laughing, "I didn't think you were gonna knock me out like that. I thought you'd pull out a gun and yell 'FREEZE' or something, but you've got one hell of a punch, I'll give you that".

"Like you actually saw the hit coming? Yeah, right!", Sonya sounded confident although she was getting scared.

"Come on, baby", Kano said while turning on his back and looking up at her, "You honestly thought I didn't recognize you from yesterday's raid? I saw you when I slit your friend's throat".

A chill overtook Sonya when she heard his words. Kano wasn't lying, he'd been expecting them. Then he was probably playing along the entire time in the elevator, just like she was. She withdrew her 9mm Glock just as at least ten Black Dragon soldiers rushed onto the roof with their AK-47s aimed at her and Bradley.

"Well, well", Kano snickered as he stood up with some difficulty, "Looks like the advantage is mine now. Hey guys!!".

He signaled one of the men about his hands so that one rushed over to him and shot through the handcuffs with his AK-47 as another grabbed Sonya's pistol out of her hand while another disarmed Bradley.

"How the hell did you know? You _couldn't_ have!!", Bradley almost screamed as he was pushed towards Sonya and then surrounded by the soldiers.

"Simple", Kano kept smiling, "I have someone in your FBI bought. He told us when and where and how the hit was going down, as well as who was carrying it out...".

He addressed Sonya again.

"When I left I really _was_ hoping that you'd be the one who finds me instead of that Brighton fellow, baby...By the way, talking about this Brighton fellow,", Kano went on, "where is he?".

"Right here, boss", one of the men answered as two others exited through the doorway and returned a few seconds later dragging Brighton's body. Of what light was available on the roof, it could be seen that the agent's body was shot numerous times.

"Hey, guys!", Kano faced his men and looked puzzled, "There was one more of you. What the hell happened?".

"He cut Mark down when we jumped him", one of his men answered as he pointed to Brighton's body.

"Oh Jesus!", Bradley whispered as he realized Brighton was long dead.

Just then, they heard the rotor blades of the helicopter approaching. It was about two hundred yards away and closing in when Kano pulled out a small device with an antenna on it.

"What the hell's that?", Bradley asked him, although he was scared to know the answer.

"This,", Kano proudly responded, "is the control for the C4 that's in your chopper".

With those words, Kano pressed a button on the device and the FBI helicopter blew up in a bright explosion in the night sky. Agents Johnson and Cain were no more. The burning helicopter then went straight down right in the middle of the heavily populated street below. Just how many people lost their lives on the ground could not be told from the rooftop, but there had to be plenty of casualties.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!", Bradley screamed in a rage as he lunged for Kano, intending to do some major physical damage. But he didn't get far because one of Kano's men hit him on the side of the face with his AK-47. As the agent fell on his back, in pain and bleeding from a deep cut on his forehead, Kano kept enjoying himself.

"See, baby", he stood one foot in front of Sonya, facing her, as he withdrew his hunting knife, "First, we're gonna shoot this old-timer here. Then, we're gonna take you to a special room in this building here and we're gonna tie you up and then, you're gonna pay for that punch in that elevator...And you're gonna pay _bad_!".

"Leave her alone, you asshole!", Bradley addressed him from the floor. It didn't do much good, except for getting him a kick in the stomach.

As Bradley coughed, Kano snickered and pressed the cold steel of the blade against her cheek as he and Sonya locked eyes and he kept on talking as if Bradley wasn't even there.

"See, this knife is as sharp as a razor. I always demand high quality like that. See, when you're securely tied up, we're gonna tape your mouth shut and then I'm gonna start cutting you up. First I'm gonna start cutting your fingers off, one at a time. Then your toes, one at a time. Then your hands, your arms, your feet...Well, you get the idea. And the only thing I'm gonna use throughout the entire operation is my blade here, and you're not gonna receive any morphine", he chuckled, "Personally, I hope you'll still be conscious by the time I get to cutting your eyes out, because I want me to be the last thing you see of this world before you see all red".

Kano had the most sadistic smile on his face that anyone could imagine as he once more addressed his men and looked away from her.

"OK, boys! Finish off the old man and show my baby here the way to my private chambers".

One Black Dragon soldier pulled Bradley up to his knees while a second one pressed his AK-47 against the back of the agent's head as the rest of the men dragged Sonya past Brighton's body. One soldier walked ahead while the rest were pushing her from behind. Kano wasn't among them, though; he remained behind because he wanted to see Bradley eat lead first. Sonya knew at this point that she had only one chance to save Bradley and herself, it was all or nothing.

"Hey, Kano!", she turned around and called back as she was being shoved back inside the building, "There's just one thing you forgot! Tonight I carried a back-up!".

Without saying anything else, and before any of the soldiers could react, Sonya reached for the 5-shot Davis P380 pistol that she had strapped to her left thigh, a few inches above the knee. With a single, smooth move, she pulled out the reserve pistol, pressed the muzzle against the back of the head of the soldier who was in front of her and pulled back on the trigger once. With a solid explosion, the guy's brains shot out of his forehead as he screamed and fell forward. Before he hit the ground, though, Sonya dropped her handgun and held on to the back of his shirt with her left hand long enough to get her right fingers around his AK-47.

She then let go of him and, as he crashed on the floor, she was gripping the muzzle of his AK-47. She turned around and positioned her left hand around the trigger to face the half dozen men who were behind her just as some of them were leveling their own AK-47s towards her. But Sonya fired first and the bursts of bullets shot out of her weapon a split second before theirs and cut them down to pieces as she kept waving her weapon back and forth at a 60 degree angle to effectively cover everyone behind her. The shrieks and screams of pain that she heard told her that those people were either dead or dying very fast as her nose caught the sharp smell of lead and blood at the same time.

Having emptied the AK-47, she let it go and picked the small pistol back up. She aimed at the sight where Bradley and his two potential executioners were almost 40 feet away and, not wanting to risk hitting Bradley, fired four shots several feet over everyone's head. The two soldiers, seeing they were under fire, instinctively pushed Bradley aside and started shooting back in the darkness. This time, Sonya dropped the Davis P380 and lunged forward on her stomach. She flattened her entire body on the floor next to the dead Black Dragon soldiers and reached and reached for the closest AK-47 she saw. She grabbed the bloody weapon and brought it close to her. Then, lifting her head a few inches above the concrete, she positioned the AK-47 in front of her face and zeroed in on the targets.

The two men and Bradley were hard to point out, not because of the distance between them and Sonya, but because of the enveloping darkness that was all around. As the two soldiers fired, Sonya saw their gun flashes as their AK-47s kept aiming for her. She couldn't fire at their gun flashes, though, because she might've still hit Bradley by mistake. Just then, her eyes caught a commotion that was taking place where her two opponents were. She saw one man get punched and another get shoved on his back as a third ran away from the scene; it must've been Bradley, she thought to herself just as the man who was punched aimed for the fleeing man and fired a handful of times, hitting him in the back. As the fleeing man went down, the two men concentrated their fire on Sonya again, but they weren't very bright because they were still standing at their full height. Sonya aimed for the left gun flash and let three quick bursts shoot out of her AK-47. The result was a yell as the person behind the gun flash went down and didn't get back up. Seeing that, the second Black Dragon soldier finally wised up and ducked as he kept firing...Over twenty rounds were exchanged between him and Sonya as all the bullets hit the floor a few inches away from their target. But Sonya was a far more superior marksman, or markswoman in this case, and the next time the Black Dragon soldier squeezed on his trigger, she responded by firing a single round towards his gun flash. Her round exploded into the muzzle of his AK-47 and tore it apart.

Without thinking, the Black Dragon soldier screamed out of fear and surprise and stood up to run as far away from his opponent as he could. He was heading for the exit door on the opposite side of the roof that led back into the building. If he had been under a different state of mind, he'd know that it was a careless move, but he wasn't thinking. As he was running, Sonya stared at him through her AK-47 with a grim face and decided not to let him live. It was payback for the way they had hit Bradley. She pulled the trigger once more and one round tore through the very center of her target's back. He dropped with a scream and was still moaning as Sonya looked around for Kano, who was nowhere to be seen. Not surprised, she stood up and quickly walked over to where Kano was lying. Under different circumstances, she would've cared about how the last Black Dragon soldier that she took down was, since he was still conscious and in pain; but right now, she just let him suffer, not caring whether he lived or died. As she reached Bradley, she found him lying face-down on his stomach, so she kneeled next to him, held him by the shoulders and turned him over, hoping to see that he was still breathing, which he was.

"Hang on, Bradley, you're gonna be OK", she tried to reassure as she held him, even though she knew he wouldn't last long enough for any paramedics to arrive. Bradley probably knew it too since two bullets had made two clean holes in him, one in the stomach and the other in the right side of the chest.

"Did you get Kano?", he whispered.

"No. I got everybody _but_ him!", she was actually disappointed with herself because she wanted to say 'yes' to make the agent feel better.

"You were right", Bradley laughed even though he was in incredible pain, "We should've justkilled him".

"He's dead. He's going down, I promise", Sonya wiped a tear out of her right eye with her right index finger as Bradley's head fell backwards, but his eyes were still open.

"I'm sorry I made you wear that dress, lieutenant", he told her as he closed his eyes, "It must be very uncomfortable for you".

That was the last thing he said, so Sonya slowly put him back down on the concrete floor, completely sobbing and crying now. The right side of her face was smeared with blood because both her hands were bloody after grabbing the dead soldier's AK-47 and then holding Bradley. She tried hard to breath and covered her face with her forearms and rested it on her lap as tears kept coming down her eyes. She relived every scene in her mind: Richards' death, the diplomats', the security guards', Brighton's, Johnson and Cain's and Bradley's. Losing five partners in 48 hours was too much. She stayed on her knees next to the body in that way for over a minute as she kept trying to catch her breath until the tears finally began to slow down. She wiped both eyes with both forearms for several seconds until the tears stopped. She stood up and decided to leave the roof since there was nothing else to do. As she was on her way back inside the building, she heard the last Black Dragon soldier that she had shot call out in pain.

"Call an ambulance, goddammit!! I'm dying!!!".

Instead of completely ignoring him, Sonya decided to answer him before she left. Walking away, she turned her head towards him.

"If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself, tough guy".

The guy's moans were the last thing she heard as she walked through the doorway leading to the 38th floor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later, it was the same scene that she had seen the previous day. She had already called her barracks with the news after washing her hands and Jax told her that he was on his way there. She was standing outside the high-rise in the dress with dozens of guests as twelve body bags were brought out, heading for the waiting ambulances. But it wasn't the only place paramedics were summoned to because other ambulances were rushing about a block away to see if anyone could be helped at the sights where the agents' helicopter went down after it exploded. Just then, Jax appeared making his way towards her through the crowd from about five yards away.

"Are you OK, sergeant?", he asked as he reached her.

"I'm fine", she answered with an emotionless stare, "You missed quiet a show here".

"It's not the only one", Jax added, "We got four cars a block from here. The chopper came down right on them. All the drivers and passengers inside were burned alive. They're still trying to see which body part belongs to who".

"_More_ good news!", Sonya answered, "It just doesn't stop, does it?".

"How the fuck did this guy know they were coming for him?", Jax asked himself more than he asked her.

"He had somebody at the FBI on his payroll. I dunno who", Sonya clued him in, "Everywhere you go he's got somebody on his payroll. There's just no getting him, unless....".

"What?", Jax wanted her to finish her sentence.

"Let's get out of here, huh, Jax? We should talk somewhere else", Sonya didn't finish it.

As they walked about twenty yards in two minutes through the massive crowd, they reached the open sidewalk which had a handful of ambulances, a handful of police cars and a firetruck around. Among the sirens and the emergency lights, Sonya kept talking.

"Every time we try an official, sanctioned hit, this guy's gonna be ahead of us", she told Jax, "If he bought the FBI, how the hell can we assume that he didn't do the same with the Special Forces? The only way to get this guy is to go after him without the official heads knowing about it, so no one else can know about it either".

"Wait a second!", Jax protested, "You're thinking of taking this guy _out_? We can't do that, Sonya. We're not killers! We have to let the system handle him if possible. Not doing so would mean we're murderers".

"That's what the four agents said, remember? And look what happened!", Sonya tried to reason with him, "Look, we'll grab him alive if we can. But if he resists, then we kill him, that's it. And I'm almost sure he's gonna resist".

"Look, sergeant", Jax went on, "Let's go back to the barracks and think about this, OK? You should get some rest and try to relax before any decisions are made".

"All we've been doing for the last two days is relaxing while this guy eats us alive!", Sonya snapped. Not too many people around her seemed to notice though.

"Look, you need to get out of that dress anyway, don't you? Fine, so we should go back to the barracks. Besides, we don't even know where this prick _is _right now. What the hell makes you think we can track him down by ourselves? Any information on his whereabouts are probably gonna come from the top, and when it comes from the top, everybody's gonna know it, not just us".

Back in her room in the barracks, Sonya was thinking about what Jax had said. He was right; the only way they would know where Kano was would be if their superiors got the information and relayed it to them. Then, their superiors would get to decide what actions are taken. Of course, she thought to herself, the only chance she had would be if she found his whereabouts by herself, and the only way that was going to get done was by going to every lowlife she knew of in Hong Kong that might associate with Kano to put pressure on him. Then, after getting the information, she would corner him and if he resisted, which he would, just finish him off. She figured the worst the Army would be able to do as punishment will be the loss of her rank and the price would be more than worth it. But the main problem was how to find his whereabouts...After getting out of the waitress outfit, she had her shorts and T-shirt on again. She decided to start cruising around downtown Hong Kong in search of anyone who would know any information tomorrow since Jax was right about another thing; she needed her rest. She went to bed expecting not to have a good night's sleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She was sound asleep in the middle of the night and she wasn't dreaming anything, just resting her body and her mind. The physical and emotional strain of the last two days had exhausted her so much that she was out cold in bed, getting her desperately needed energy back. Part of the strain was actually having to keep all the grief inside of her; the grief for Richards, for the FBI agents, the security guards in the building, the diplomats and, latest, all the people who she heard had been burned alive in their vehicles when the FBI helicopter came down on them like a fireball from hell. She hadn't even known how many victims there were overall, just that the number was big; and everyone had friends and loved ones who would miss them as time went on, and the only person responsible for that misery who was still breathing was Kano. Sonya had remembered the last fact more than anything else.

But she wasn't thinking about him at this moment, because right now she was at peace as she lied comfortably on her back on the bunk bed. Her bunk bed had never been comfortable before, nor was it meant to be, but it sure was tonight. The peace was not meant to last long, though.

Sonya was jolted awake from her sleep because of a sudden pressure that was applied on her mouth. As she opened her eyes wide, she almost instantly realized that it was a hand covering her lips in order to keep her from screaming out. Looking frantically around, she noticed to her horror that the hand belonged to Kano; she could still make out his metallic eye despite the darkness in the room. Kano wasn't alone, he had brought two of his men along as well and each man was leaning on one of her wrists to make sure she couldn't move. She knew this was no dream.

"MMMMMMMMMM!!", she desperately tried to yell out without any success as she attempted to free her face from Kano's pressuring hand by shaking her head.

"What's that, baby?", Kano whispered as he put his entire weight on his hand and thus on her face, "You wanna have fun? Right now? Well, I think I'm up for it, don't you guys?".

"Sure, boss!", was the answer from one of his two subordinates as Kano grabbed the covers with his free hand and tossed it aside.

"See, baby", Kano looked down at her, "I couldn't let you go after everything that happened on that roof...No no!...Me, the head of the Black Dragons? Humiliated by a _woman_? God! What would people _think_? I have to teach you a lesson! The three of us are gonna take turns... One by one...By the time we're through, you're gonna wanna scream so _bad_!!...I'm gonna make sure of that before I cut your throat and let you join your partner".

Then, with a smile still on his face, Kano addressed his two subordinates as he pulled out his knife with his free hand.

"Well, boys. Which part should I cut off first?".

"How 'bout the feet so she can't run away?", the subordinate who had both his hands wrapped around her left wrist answered.

"Yeah, why not?", Kano answered as pressed the tip of the blade on her stomach, "So pretty, too. It's gonna be a shame at the end".

A ton of rage was shooting through Sonya's system as Kano rested the knife on her stomach and ripped a piece of duct tape with his free hand, which he then used to paste her lips together so both his hands would be free.

"See, baby? I thought of everything!", he gloated as he picked up his knife again and walked to the foot of the bed.

Just then, Sonya turned the rage into action. She brought both her legs up at once like she was doing leg raises real fast and aimed as far to the right as possible. Her right leg hit the subordinate who was leaning on her wrist over the head, though not painfully, just with enough force to make him lose his grip on her wrist. As he recovered from the relatively light hit, Sonya took advantage of it by reaching for the floor with her right hand and hoping that Kano hadn't spotted her Glock when he came in.

He hadn't because she gripped the handle of the pistol and pulled it up. The first person to stare down its muzzle was the subordinate on her right. She aimed in the darkness in his direction as he was one foot away and pulled the trigger eight times. Her target screamed and fell on his back as his blood stained the bunk bed as well as Sonya's clothes and skin. Without looking, she then turned the handgun against the man at her left and frantically fired several more times. That one screamed as he let her go and slammed against the wall behind him. Turning her head to the left, she saw a silhouette holding his left shoulder and screaming.

"YOU BITCH!! YOU BITCH!! YOU BITCH!!!!!", was the only thing he kept yelling out while Kano let go of his knife and took off running for the door because he wasn't about to hang around to become target #3.

Sonya pulled the duct tape off her lips with her left hand and screamed while she fired at him until the Glock was empty. But she knew instinctively that she had missed. She planted her feet on the floor on the right side of the bed, jumped out barefoot and proceeded to give chase. As soon as she took one step, though, she tripped on the body of the subordinate who was at her right and fell on her face, losing the Glock. Not discouraged, she stood back up, grabbed the handgun and started running. As she exited the room, she saw Kano was about twenty yards ahead.

Sonya ran after him for about fifty yards until they were both outside in the darkness, with only the light from the moon and stars. She felt like a lioness going after a deer and she could've caught him on foot, but she didn't want to risk giving him a chance to disappear in the dark. As she was five yards behind him, she stopped, aimed the empty handgun at him as she was looking at him through eyes that were as cold as the ground she was standing on.

"FREEZE, TOUGH GUY!! OR I'LL SHOOT!!", she yelled.

Kano must've believed her because he stopped cold in his tracks and turned around without raising his hands.

"What, baby?", he grimaced, trying to sound defiant, "You're gonna shoot me?"

"Not really", Sonya answered, "The gun is empty".

With those words, Sonya dropped the Glock on the ground and rushed over to him.

"This is for Richards!", she told him a split second before she uppercut him with her right hand. The hit took Kano by surprise and he staggered several steps behind, losing his equilibrium but still managing to stay on his feet.

Sonya took the necessary few steps to close the gap between her and him. As Kano seemed to recover from the blow, she had more in mind.

"This is for the FBI agents!", she added as she let loose a series of hits.

With both hands closed into a fist, she punched Kano in the jaw with her left hand. As his head snapped to the right, she quickly followed it with a punch with her right hand and his head snapped back to the left. She then sent her right fist straight into his stomach and knocked the wind out of him. As Kano bent over, gasping for breath, Sonya grabbed both his ears and lifted her right knee so her knee impacted into his face. The last hit sent Kano staggering further behind as he yelled out in pain. He still managed to stay on his feet, though.

"And this is for everybody else!", Sonya let him know as she rushed over to him to keep adding to the punishment. When she was approximately three feet in front of him, Kano recovered his balance and stood back up straight, ready for a fight, or so he thought.

Sonya twisted around to her left side and kicked him in the jaw. The hit of her ankle slamming hard into his teeth was more powerful than any punch and sent Kano crashing on the ground with a yell. He was on his hands and knees, trying to get back up with thoughts of a hasty retreat in mind since she was obviously more than a match for him. But Sonya didn't give him a chance because she then kicked him in the head the same way that one would punt a football. That painful hit sent the horizontal Kano in the air as he landed on his back and saw nothing but the stars as he looked up.

"Get up, motherfucker!", Sonya taunted him. Kano wasn't about to since he knew what would be in store if he did. He decided that maybe he should try to beg for mercy and, when she was distracted and listening to him, he should try to simply run away.

But Sonya didn't have mercy on her mind as she bent over, locking eyes with him from a few inches away, grabbed his shirt with both her hands and smoothly yanked him up to his feet despite his resistance. She let go of his shirt with her right hand, and by still holding him with her left, punched him in the jaw with yet another right fist. The massive hit sent Kano back on the ground before he could even say a word, let alone distract her.

"It's not so easy when you're alone, _is_ it, tough guy?", she told him just as she picked him back up to his feet like before and punched him in the stomach one more time. As Kano bent over for the second time, they both heard someone calling from the darkness.

"Hey, sergeant!! Stop! What're you doing??".

Kano was in too much pain to care about who had called out with the question and Sonya was too busy sending her elbow crashing down on the back of his head to notice.

After Kano fell on his face, grunting in agony, Sonya angrily kicked him in the side of the stomach. The kick hurt her foot as much as it hurt his stomach since she had no shoes on, but she didn't care for now. The kick turned Kano on his left side of the stomach so that his stomach was facing her. That was a tempting opening and Sonya took advantage of it. She repeatedly kicked him in the stomach, hurting both his stomach and her foot at the same time, as Kano kept screaming and trying to cover himself with his arms in vain.

Just then, someone emerged from behind Sonya, running towards them. The individual reached her and restrained her by giving her a bearhug from behind. Sonya was completely taken by surprise and the individual had such powerful arms that she couldn't get out of it.

"Hey, what're you doing?!?! Let go!!! Let gooo!!!", she protested as she desperately tried to struggle out of the man's grip, but in vain.

Seeing what happened, Kano didn't care who the person was. He was simply thankful to have a chance to escape before Sonya did any more damage to him. He stood up, and despite the fact that he was in a lot of pain, managed to run as fast away from her as he could. Running hurt his stomach, but he didn't stop because it was better than the alternative of staying there and having to face her when she got loose.

Sonya saw him disappear in the massive darkness that was all around and couldn't believe her eyes.

"Let go of me, you idiot!!! LET GOOOOOO!!!!", she kept screaming as she struggled. But the more she struggled, the tighter the man's grip seemed to get.

"Calm down, sergeant! You're gonna hurt yourself!", the man told her.

If Sonya had been calmer, she would've noticed that it was Jax behind her, but she was in a rage at this moment and she started struggling like a wild animal as Jax lifted a foot off the ground in order to calm her down. Sonya started kicking her legs in midair as she snapped her head back in order to hit the person behind her in the face; both attempts were unsuccessful.

"Aaaaggggggggggghh! Aaagggggggggggggggh!", she kept growling as she lost all sense of sanity after watching Kano slip through her fingers.

After about thirty seconds of that, she realized that there was no getting out of the grip unless she calmed down, so she did. Seeing that, Jax decided to put her back down on her feet.

"Now, I'm gonna let you go, OK?", he told her, "I want you calm".

"Fine!", Sonya answered in a cold voice as she finally realized that she was talking to Jax.

Jax eased her back on the ground and loosened his grip around her. As he did, Sonya took one large step away from him, turned around, and looked him in the eye, completely calm.

"Now, who the hell was that guy that you were beating up on before....", Jax spoke first.

That was about all he got to say because Sonya made her right hand into a fist, pulled her right arm back and punched him in the jaw with as massive a blow as she could come up with. Just because she was calm didn't mean she wasn't angry.

But Jax was much stronger than Kano. A punch that almost destroyed Kano only swung Jax's face to the right. He was looking at his right shoulder instead of straight ahead, but otherwise, his body didn't move an inch.

Jax turned his head back in front to look at her and, for the first time since Sonya met him, he had an angry look on his face and it was directed at her. Sonya opened her eyes wide even though she stood her ground because she just realized that this man was probably strong enough to break her in half if he wanted to. But fortunately, Jax didn't strike back.

"I wouldn't recommend that you do that again, _sergeant_!!", he snapped at her.

Sonya wouldn't hit him again, but she wasn't through with him.

"You _idiot_!!", she answered, "That was _Kano_!!! I had him and you let him escape!".

"What?!?", Jax seemed genuinely surprised when he heard Kano's name, "No way! How could he have gotten here?".

"I don't _know_!!!", Sonya snapped back, "He came into my room with two of his goons!!".

"What??!!", Jax couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Wait a second. Are you hurt?".

He had just noticed that she was covered with blood. His question calmed her down to a great extent.

"No...", she answered, "It's that asshole's blood. I think one of the two is still alive back there".

Just then, a handful of other soldiers showed up.

"Hey, what's going on here? Is everybody OK? We heard gunshots", one of them asked.

All the soldiers were armed. Some of them with pistols and others with M-16 assault rifles; obviously sleeping with a Glock wasn't good enough for them.

"Yeah, everything's OK", Jax answered them, "But I think it's gonna be a long night. We have a couple of bodies to pick up".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everybody was up during the night as the body of one of the subordinates was carried out of the barracks in a bag and the second subordinate was taken to a doctor on the base under heavy guard as the military police was summoned. As a doctor from the army was patching up the subordinate's shoulder wound, Kano's employee was seated on a table eyeing the five soldiers who had their M-16 aimed right at him as they were waiting for him to make a wrong move.

Sonya, who was still covered with the other subordinate's blood, walked into the medical facility followed by Jax. The soldiers recognized them and let the both of them walk up to the injured Black Dragon member. Jax stayed a few feet behind as Sonya confronted him by standing next to the doctor.

"Where's Kano going, you son of a bitch??", she demanded by locking eyes with him.

The subordinate didn't answer a word and Sonya was annoyed enough as it was; she wasn't about to put up with his attitude. She grabbed him by the back of his hair and pulled his head back as the subordinate screamed and held on to his wounded shoulder.

"I _aien't _gonna put up with this, you prick!! Spill it!!", she was taking out her anger on him.

The doctor intervened because her physical confrontation with the patient was only going to make the shoulder wound worse.

"Please, lieutenant", he motioned her to let go of his hair.

She reluctantly did as the doctor saw the blood on her clothes and skin.

"Are you hurt, lieutenant?", he added.

"No", was her simple answer as she kept staring at the subordinate, "You're gonna talk. I don't care if I have to beat the truth out of you with my bare hands".

Her facial expression made everyone believe that she meant what she said.

"Lieutenant,", a voice called her from behind, "I can't allow that".

She turned around to see two officers from the military police department. They were accompanied by a soldier who had been telling them what happened.

"We'll take care of him as soon as the doctor can let him go. He's our responsibility", one of them told her in a polite manner.

"_After_ I'm through with him", Sonya defiantly responded.

"Lieutenant,", the other officer answered, "we will charge him with the maximum, and we will question him, but we cannot allow you to punish him yourself".

"Give me a break, goddammit!", she sounded annoyed.

"If our roles were reversed, you'd be telling us the same thing", the first officer countered.

Despite her anger, Sonya had to admit they were right. She would be telling them the same thing.

"Just tell us when he's done, doctor", the first military police officer told the physician, "We have eight more guys outside who want to take him into custody".

"He's done, the bullet is out and I already stopped the bleeding", the doctor said as he looked at his patient, "He's all yours"

Hearing that, the two officers approached the subordinate, handcuffed his hands behind his back and pulled him off the table that he was sitting on.

"We have him charged with burglary, and also attempted murder", the first officer looked at Sonya when he said the last charge.

With that, they dragged him outside to the other officers who were waiting. Sonya watched them go, knowing that she was putting her faith in total strangers at the moment by assuming that they weren't on Kano's payroll. But she didn't have much of a choice.

Even after the officers were gone, everyone at the base was still awake because the main thing that was bothering them was how three people could've just broken into the barracks and the base itself without raising an alarm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kano was running for miles once outside the base, he was out of breath but still refused to stop for rest because he was very scared, even though he knew that there was no way anyone could've followed him in the night. As time went on, he simply didn't have the stamina any more and thus stopped and dropped on the ground, gasping for breath. He was miles away from the base by now, although he didn't know exactly where. He needed to find a phone to call his organization and demand to be picked up by a car, he thought to himself. He looked up and saw that he was in a rural area, with no street lights or cars or phones anywhere.

"Great, this is just great", he told himself as he kept breathing hard and sat up on the ground.

As he was still catching his breath, he heard a sound behind him. He didn't know what it was and, naturally nervous, quickly turned around. It was an oriental man standing at his full height about six feet away from him and looking down at him.

"Sickening", the man said as he kept staring right into Kano's eyes.

"Who the fuck are you, mate?", Kano demanded, looking up at him.

"My name is Shang Tsung", the man told him with an air of superiority before he pointed his index finger down at him, "_You_ man call me _mister_ Shang Tsung".

"How the fuck did you get here, _mister_?", Kano asked him sarcastically.

As he said that, Shang Tsung took two steps towards him, bent over, gripped Kano's throat with his right hand and pulled him up to his feet , choking him at the same time.

"You _will_ show respect", Shang Tsung told him as Kano was desperately trying to get out of the grip but couldn't, "If I didn't need your pathetic assistance, you wouldn't even be _alive _right now".

"OK!! OK!!", Kano whimpered as Shang Tsung let him go. Rubbing his throat with one hand, Kano looked at him.

"So what do you want?", he asked.

"I need your help to bring Sonya to me", Shang Tsung frankly told him, "I will tell you everything you're to do".

With those words, Shang Tsung turned around and walked away. Kano stood where he was without moving until he was called when Shang Tsung was about thirty feet away from him.

"Well, come along!", Shang Tsung called back, "Unless you plan to stay here. The authorities here will not rest until they have your head. With me, you will be safe".

Hearing that, Kano ran after him and when he reached him, a bright orange circle opened up a few feet in front of them. Kano didn't want to touch it, but when Shang Tsung stepped through it, he reluctantly followed. As he stepped through, the orange circle disappeared and he found himself in an empty dance studio. Shang Tsung walked over to a desk and sat down on the chair without saying a word.

"What do we do now?", Kano was anxious.

"Now, we wait until sunrise", his answer was, "If you want to call any friends, assuming you have any, now's the time to do it; because you won't be back in this city for a while".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the sun finally rose, Sonya and Jax were forced into a discussion about the latest events with the colonel after she got a different T-shirt and shorts and new sneakers to wear as well as a fast shower to wash the subordinate's blood off her body.

"You carry a Glock with you next to the bed at night?", the colonel asked her as if he'd never heard of the idea before, even though numerous soldiers did.

"Sir, I don't think that's the important issue right now", Jax politely interrupted, "The issue is how those three guys managed to break in here without anyone knowing about it. If it happened once, it could happen again".

"Somebody here sold us out", Sonya flatly stated.

"How can you be so sure?", Jax asked.

"Come on. It happened with the FBI", Sonya reasoned, "What the hell makes us think that it wouldn't happen here? The Black Dragon is very rich, we've always known that, and it only takes one person to sell out an entire society. Kano knew exactly which room to go to. How the hell did he know that room was mine? Somebody here had to have told him".

"That's ridiculous!", the colonel countered, "Do you know all the negative publicity we'll get if we start looking for an impostor here??".

"What's ridiculous? The fact that we have an impostor or the fact that we won't do anything about it?", Sonya was getting annoyed at his attitude, "Or the fact that you're too worried about your image on the news to do anything affective around here?".

She stared the colonel right into his eyes when she made the last comment. He obviously didn't appreciate her wit or her courage right now.

"You're walking on thin ice, lieutenant!!", he barked back with an air of superiority, "And as for this discussion, it's over. Your concern is noted and you're both dismissed".

That was her and Jax's invitation to leave his presence, which they did with pleasure. Once outside, Jax couldn't help but bring up the subject again.

"You _really_ think it's somebody here?", he spoke to her first.

"Yeah", she answered without looking at him; Jax could see something wasn't right.

"What is it?", he demanded.

"Not much", she answered picking her words carefully, "Just wondering how you found me so fast in the dark like that outside when I was with Kano".

Her statement was nothing short of an accusation and Jax knew it.

"What?", he laughed, "You think it was me?!?".

"I don't know _what_ to think, Jax", Sonya wasn't laughing as she looked at him, "What I know are facts...Like you stopped me from bringing Kano in. And you didn't want to go along with us when the FBI was trying to grab Kano yesterday evening...Why was that? Was it a coincidence or did you know something we didn't, like that everyone there was walking into an ambush".

"I can't fucking believe I'm hearing this!!!", Jax snapped, "You think _I _was the one who told Kano about where to find you?...What's next, you're gonna suspect that Richards was involved with them too?".

"Is it such a crazy idea? You know where my room is and you knew about the FBI hit. Is it so crazy to suspect that you were the one behind the whole thing from the start?".

"YEAH!! It is!!...", Jax countered, "Actually, maybe it's not...You're right about everything you said so far, but you missed one point, sarge. Assistant director Bradley had a chopper waiting to pick Kano up...Nobody here knew where the chopper was! Not me, not you, nobody! Just Bradley, his boys and some people at the FBI. So I couldn't have told him where to go to plant that C4 on the chopper to blow it up, now could I?...And as for me knowing where your room is, jeez! There are 300 men and one woman in this base. You're the only person other than the colonel who has a room all alone. _Everybody_ knows where your room is! Goddamn, we use it as a neutral point when we talk about areas in this base!".

With those words, an angry Jax walked away. As he got about ten yards from her, he turned around with one last comment and he was calmer.

"You know, _sarge_,", he added as he stared at her, "you just got attacked, and in your bed of all places. That was a lousy experience, no doubt. If you need some help getting over it, there's some counseling available here in the base; but don't go paranoid on me, OK?".

When he then turned around from her and walked away again, Sonya thought about what he had just said and figured out he was right. Jax couldn't have been the one involved against them. All the pressure was getting to her, she was starting to see enemies among the shadows, and it wasn't a good sign.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the dance studio, a bit before noon, Kano was busy talking to one of his subordinates who was called within the last two hours and who brought him an exact copy of the blade that he lost in the base a few hours ago. He told the subordinate that if anyone comes into the studio looking for him, that he's to shoot first and ask questions later. After that bit of encouragement, there was nothing to do but to promise the man more cocaine if he did his job right and to then hand him his Uzi machine gun for guard duty. Shang Tsung still wasn't impressed if that's what Kano was trying to do as they watched a large crowd outside the room gathering on the dance floor and following the beat of the loud music. The place had opened for customers a few hours earlier and it was very popular. While the subordinate loaded his Uzi, Shang Tsung looked at his watch.

"It's daytime", Shang Tsung told them as he picked up a cordless telephone, "That means it's time to call my beautiful Sonya over".

"You're gonna call her _over_ here?? What're you nuts, mate??", Kano snapped more out of fear than out of anger.

"Shut up", Shang Tsung calmly responded as he dialed. He waited a few seconds until someone on the other end picked up.

"Is this the United States Army base?", he politely asked.

"Good", he said into the phone after a few more seconds, "I want to inform you that the criminal you are searching for, the one called Kano, is hiding in a dance studio across the street from the building where the shoot-out took place yesterday evening".

Without saying anything else, he hung up. He then looked at Kano and could see that his 'guest' was planning to get the hell out of there fast.

"Don't worry", Shang Tsung reassured him, "I don't want her to get to you. You're simply the bait... When she gets here, and she will, I want you to leave through the tunnel that's in front of the desk and head for the seaport... On pier number forty, there will be a boat. Board it. I will take care of the rest".

"What kind of a boat is it?", Kano pressed, "I don't wanna board the wrong one by mistake, you know".

"You'll know it when you see it", Shang Tsung replied, "But until she gets here, just relax".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back at the base, Sonya was summoned to the colonel's office and she totally didn't care why.

"I'm here to tell you that this kind of attitude on your part has to stop if you wanna keep staying at this base, _lieutenant_", he emphasized her rank to make sure she realized that he was her superior, "Is that understood?".

"Of course, colonel!", she emphasized his rank because she wanted to let him know that she didn't respect him one bit as an actual person.

Just then, Jax rushed into the office without knocking.

"Sir,", he announced, "we just got an anonymous tip about Kano's whereabouts!".

"Where??", Sonya exclaimed.

"Across the street from the building you were in last night. In a dance studio", he answered.

"I'm going!", Sonya declared to no one in particular and headed towards the door without bothering to ask for the colonel's permission.

"No you're not!!", the colonel protested, "Every time you go after this guy, there's gunfire and negative press about us. You're staying right here!".

Upon walking past Jax and reaching the door, Sonya turned around to answer him with a sarcastic smile.

"Yeah, right!", she simply said, "In your dreams, colonel".

"LIEUTENANT!!!", the colonel raised his voice, "I'm warning you! If you disobey my orders, you'll be through here!".

Sonya had just about enough of him and decided it was finally time to stop being polite.

"Why don't you go fuck your mother, you goddamn politician?", she answered.

"Briggs,", the colonel spoke to Jax, "escort her to her room. She's under house arrest. Listen to me carefully, Blade! If you don't stay in your room for the next 24 hours, I'll have you put on a plane and shipped back to the states. There you can go back to working for your daddy the major! It's only because of him that you got accepted here in the first place".

Sonya walked out of his followed by Jax. Her room was only about thirty yards away, so it didn't take them long to reach it. Once inside, Sonya put her wristwatch on and stared at him.

"You know I'm going, Jax. Don't try to stop me", she almost pleaded with him because she knew if he was determined to get in her way, she wouldn't be able to leave.

"You heard him", Jax answered, "If you go, you're finished here".

"I don't care!", Sonya countered, "Besides, it just means I get to go back to my 'daddy', remember?".

"Look, Sonya, you didn't get accepted here because of your father's position in the army, I know that, but what're you gonna do, huh? You're gonna break out of here, go to this place in your shorts, find a baseball bat along the way and scream Kano's name while you're swinging the bat around?".

"No", Sonya responded, "Of course not".

She reached under her bunk bed and pulled out her Glock. It was newly loaded with twenty fresh rounds.

"See you around, Jax", she told him with a smile as she was about to exit through the door holding on the pistol, "And, earlier on this morning when it was still dark out, I appreciate you not hitting me back when I decked you".

She realized that this was the first time she had a genuine smile on her face since she was talking to Richards in the American Embassy over two days ago.

"Sonya, wait a sec!", Jax stopped her, "I'll come with you".

"This aien't your fight. You don't have to", was her answer.

"The fuck I don't. I should've been there yesterday with the FBI. Richards was my friend", he countered, "Besides, there's a space in my barracks where there are extra uniforms and some better weapons kept. You're bound to find a uniform that fits you. You shouldn't go there looking like this".

"Look, not that I don't appreciate it, but there's no point in the both of us ending our career here. You don't have anybody back in the states to go back to in the military if you're booted out of here", Sonya tried to keep him back.

"I aien't gonna get kicked out", he reassured her, "The colonel only said _you_ had to stay in your room, he didn't say anything about _me_. Besides, if he tried anything, I'll sue his ass off for racial discrimination".

"Fine", Sonya gave up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya followed Jax as he walked towards his barracks. He entered a room where a man about their age was seated on a bunk bed with his legs crossed and reading a magazine. As she walked in, she saw Jax exchanging greetings with him. Jax then walked towards an empty closet that was touching the wall and placed both his hands on one side of it, trying to push it aside. Seeing that, the man on the bunk bed opened his eyes wide to protest.

"Hey! What the hell?!", he exclaimed.

"Relax, Scott", Jax responded, "Blade is OK. She can see it".

With those words, Jax easily pushed the closet to one side and Sonya saw a hollow opening in the wall behind it that was exactly the same size as the closet itself. In the opening were a dozen shotguns that were equipped with a flashlight, over twenty M-16 assault rifles, five AK-47s and three M-60 machine guns as well as a huge amount of ammunition. On a top shelf rested a handful of clean and ironed commando outfits that were wrapped in a clear plastic cover.

"You're bound to find a uniform of your size", Jax told her while pointing at them, "And there are plenty of shoes for those outfits under the bunk beds too if you want".

"You two wanna clue me in as to what's going on here?", Scott demanded as he closed the magazine and stayed seated on the bed. He didn't like the fact that Jax had told an outsider about their arsenal.

"We're going after Kano", Jax explained as Sonya picked out an AK-47.

"Are you _serious_?", Scott twisted around and planted both his feet on the floor.

"Yeah", Jax answered, "We got a tip he was in a dance studio".

"Wait a second", Scott wondered, "Does the colonel know about this?".

"Well, not exactly", was Jax's answer.

"Haha! Now it's getting good!", Scott became more interested as he addressed Sonya for the first time, "You know, Blade, a dance studio could be crowded, so you don't want that AK-47. That thing spits out bullets like there's no tomorrow. It's no good in a crowded place. Besides, if it's dark, you might wanna consider taking one of the shotguns instead".

Hearing his advice, Sonya put the AK-47 in its place, picked up a shotgun and started examining it.

"You're probably right", she told him.

"So, who's going exactly? I could come along too", Scott said next as he stood up.

"Hey! No way!", Sonya protested by looking at him, "What's this? Everybody wants to end their career all of a sudden? No!".

"You shouldn't come either, Jax", Sonya faced Jax next.

"Forget it. Kano's mine. You shouldn't do this alone", Jax insisted, "Actually, Scott, I think it would be better if you stay behind. We're gonna need to borrow a ride to go to the studio and it'd be best if you drove the car back here after we're out of it. If the colonel doesn't notice the car missing, then he's less likely to notice _us _missing".

"OK", Scott yielded, "I guess that makes sense".

Sonya kept going over the wrapped commando outfits, trying to find out that was her size. She found it and told the two men.

"Anywhere I can go to change into this?", she asked Jax as she held on to the outfit.

"Yeah, the door beyond the bunk beds over there", Jax pointed towards it with his index finger.

Sonya left for the door without another word. She appreciated the assistance the two men were giving her, but she still didn't feel comfortable taking them along. As she was leaving, Jax was busy loading ammunition into two of the shotguns...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few minutes later, Sonya came back dressed in the commando outfit and holding her previous clothes on her right forearm. She laid the T-shirt and shorts on the nearest bunk bed. Before she had to scan the place for a pair of shoes that could fit her, Scott broke the silence and saved her from the hassle.

"Does size nine fit you?", he asked her with a blank expression on his face.

"Yeah", she answered not knowing what was going through his mind.

"The shoes that are under the second bed on your left are size nine. Nobody's using them", he told her.

"Thanks", she had to say as she walked over to her left, sat on that particular bed and took her sneakers off.

Scott left the room as she was busy fitting into the new shoes and Jax announced that he was ready. After a few more seconds, Sonya stood up and both soldiers walked out of the barracks without another word and with Jax still holding both shotguns. As they stepped outside, they saw that Scott was already behind the wheel of a jeep and he drove it until he brought the vehicle within a few feet of them. Sonya climbed into the front passenger seat as Jax handed her one of the shotguns and then climbed into the back seat himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott drove out of the base and kept his attention on the road without saying anything. Sonya didn't turn her face to her left even though she wanted to, she just kept staring ahead also. She was wondering why Scott had been so eager to come along; was it because he liked the idea of breaking the rules or was it because he wanted to help two fellow soldiers out or was it something else, she kept telling herself. She also told herself that she had been too rude with him by snapping in the way she did, but she couldn't bring herself to apologize.

It took the three of them about ten minutes to reach the building where she had been with the FBI agents the previous day. Sure enough, there was a dance studio across the street. Scott parked the jeep about twenty yards away from the studio as Sonya and Jax jumped out of the vehicle at the same time. Looking back on her seat, Sonya realized there was a black cap on the floor where her feet were. She reached for it and picked it up before putting in on.

"Thanks, Scott", Jax told him as he looked at the studio.

"Any time", Scott answered him, "I still think I should come with you, though. This is your last chance".

"No", Sonya kept answering, "Besides, you aren't even armed".

"Sure I am", Scott told her as he reached over and opened the glove compartment. There was a 9mm pistol there that he gripped and pulled out.

"No!", Sonya was getting annoyed at his persistence, "Just drive the car back, OK?".

With those words, she turned away from him and headed for the studio while holding on to the shotgun. Jax stayed behind with Scott for a few seconds more.

"Stay with her, Jax", Scott told him as he was about to drive away, "I don't wanna go to another funeral".

"I hear you", Jax answered him as Scott drove off.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He hurried to catch up with her as she was standing outside the main entrance. She didn't seem to care a bit that she was getting stares from passerby's.

"I think this is the only way in", Sonya told him.

"Probably", Jax answered.

They both entered through the main entrance at the same time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside the studio, the wireless phone rang and Kano picked it up. It was his subordinate on the other end, telling him he just spotted Sonya and someone else. He asked Kano if he should eliminate them, so Kano covered the lower half of the phone with his palm and asked Shang Tsung.

"He wants to know if he should take them out", he told Shang Tsung.

"He'll never make it. He'll die", Shang Tsung simply answered, "Those two are too well prepared".

Kano put the phone back to his ear and answered his subordinate's question.

"Sure, take them out", he said with a smile.


	2. Final Confrontation 2

Note : Story follows from the end of the MK movie, and after the sequel that should've followed it, since that film ended with a cliffhanger. Unfortunately, the official sequel, MK Annihilation, sucked, thus doesn't count here.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once Sonya found herself back in Hong Kong, she procrastinated as much time as possible before going back to her Army base. When she had last been here, she had left with Jax hoping that they would be back soon enough so that no one would've noticed they were missing. But her adventure on Shang Tsung's island had lasted way over a day, and the colonel who threatened to kick her out was sure to have noticed that she wasn't present no matter how dumb he was.

She was about two miles away from the military base, so she decided to walk there instead of trying to get a ride. Walking would have allowed her to enjoy whatever scenery Hong Kong had as well as let her delay having to face everyone for about half an hour or so. She didn't even want to return since she knew she wasn't about to see a welcoming committee; but she had come back in order to tell some of the soldiers, like Jax or Scott, that she was still in one piece. She looked around at the other pedestrians and buildings as she slowly but surely headed for her destination...

When she finally reached the base, she entered it and instantly ran into some soldiers whom she knew, though not personally. The soldiers recognized her as the one who had been absent without leave, so they didn't try to stop her as she made her way around the barracks; they were just amazed that she had the bravery to show up after leaving in such a way. Instead of going back to her room, which she knew was probably already empty, she proceeded towards Jax's barracks. She still remembered the way even though she was only there once before. She entered the room where Jax had shown her his reserve arsenal in the hopes of finding him, but realized that he wasn't there. Instead, she saw a soldier from behind as that one was straightening his hair by holding a comb and a small mirror. She wondered if he knew where Jax was, so she decided to break the silence by letting him know that he wasn't alone.

"Hello?", Sonya smiled nervously, "Could you tell me where Jax is?".

Upon hearing a woman's voice, the soldier turned around surprised to see who was behind him. To Sonya's surprise, she realized that she was talking to Scott. But Scott was more surprised as he widened his eyes after seeing who it was and then gave her a huge smile.

"Goddamn!", Scott exclaimed, "You're OK! You're actually OK!".

"You weren't expecting me, huh?", Sonya told him, allowing herself to feel a bit more relaxed.

"Lieutenant, we were afraid you were lying face-down in a lake somewhere!", Scott happily answered, "Where the _hell _have you been?".

"It's a _really_ long story", Sonya wasn't about to clue him in.

"Jax told me you ran off into some weird boat before he could stop you. That's the last _anyone_ heard of you", Scott wasn't calm yet, "I figured Kano had gotten the best of you, lieutenant. We felt terrible here. You should've at least given us a call to tell us you were OK, you know?".

"I'm sorry. I really _was _busy", Sonya gave as little detail as possible, "Is Jax around, by the way?".

"Yeah, he's here", Scott informed her.

Scott then turned away from her and screamed as loud as he could.

"YO JAX!!! SOMEONE'S HERE TO SEE YOU!! GET OVER HERE!!!".

Jax opened a door and walked into the room a few seconds later. He and Sonya made eye contact as she smiled at him. He smiled back

"She's OK. Can you believe it?", Scott told him.

"Yeah, I can", Jax responded as he still looked at her, "But the colonel isn't gonna be this happy when he sees you, I hate to say it".

"Yeah, well", Sonya sighed, "It was worth the price".

"What was?", Scott questioned her.

"Not now", Sonya didn't want to answer.

"Is Kano dead?", Scott bluntly asked then.

"I'd rather not say anything that can be used against me in court later on, if you don't mind", she said as she smiled, telling him indirectly that the answer to his question was affirmative.

Just then, two soldiers in jungle camouflage entered the room and stood erect on either side of the doorway as the three of them turned their heads to face them.

"Lieutenant Blade?", the one on the right asked, "The colonel would like to see you in his office, _now_".

Word sure gets around fast on this base, Sonya told herself. The soldier's tone of voice warned her that her colonel was not in a good mood. She turned around to look at Scott and Jax one last time before she was ousted.

"Well, I knew it would come down to this. Might as well get it over with", she told them with as much spirit as she afford.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya walked over to the two soldiers by the door and walked through the doorway as both men in jungle camouflage followed her from a few feet behind. The walk to the colonel's officer was mercifully short, but she still got many looks from soldiers on her way there. Obviously, the idea of someone who broke a direct order and house arrest was new here. As the trio reached the closed door of the office, one of the men behind her walked up and knocked on it four times. From inside, the colonel told them to come in. The same soldier turned the knob and held the door open for her. As she walked in, he closed the door behind her. Sonya looked defiant because she knew she was about to get hell for her actions, so she wasn't going to try to reason with him.

"Well, well. Look who's back", the colonel said as he sat behind his desk.

Sonya didn't answer. She just crossed her arms across her chest as she stared at him with the same facial expression that she gave to Kano as they had faced off in the tournament.

"Get to the point!", she sharply replied.

"Oh, you're always _so fucking_ defiant, aren't you?", the colonel stood up with an irritated look on his face.

He took two steps towards her as she just stood her ground and didn't move an inch. She knew she had done the right thing no matter what he said or did.

"You realize this is it for you, don't you, you stupid bitch", he was annoyed because he couldn't scare her.

"Go fuck yourself", was her only answer as she still stood like a statue with its arms crossed.

As she got the last comment in, Scott opened the door unannounced and froze as the colonel stared at him, although Sonya didn't turn around.

"Wadda you want?", the colonel asked.

Scott smiled at him.

"I figured it was only fair that I provide moral support".

Scott's reply caught Sonya by surprise as she realized that he was talking about her. She turned her head around and looked at him, nonverbally asking him what he was doing. She remembered that the only time she had ever really talked to him was when he wanted to accompany Jax and her to the dance studio and she had forced him to stay behind. So she naturally wondered why he was trying to help her now.

"I don't' have time for this, kiddo", the colonel countered him, "Get lost".

"Excuse me, sir", Scott answered as politely as possible, "But it's not against regulations to be present when a fellow serviceman is being questioned. You wouldn't want me to complain to the general, would you sir?".

The fact that he referred to Sonya as a serviceman didn't sound strange to him or her. But his threat to call the colonel's superiors with a complaint was enough to force the colonel to let him stay, although from the looks of it, it seemed like the colonel would make Scott pay later on for his actions.

Thus, with both Scott and Sonya present, the colonel changed his demeanor somewhat, starting with not calling her any more names.

"I have told you," he lectured her more politely, "that you'd be gone from here if you didn't stay in your room for 24 hours. You broke my direct order. So I'm recommending you be discharged from the United States Army as soon as possible".

"But look", Scott protested on her behalf, "Just because _you_ didn't have the guts to go after Kano, don't take it out on _her_".

The colonel made eye contact with Scott with a shocked expression on his face, so Scott widened his eyes.

"Sir!", he added.

"There is also the matter of what you did with the fugitive Kano", the colonel went on, "If you killed him, I will not protect you".

"There's a shock", Sonya countered.

"Let's just see if you're that brave when you're arrested for whatever happened between you and him, Blade", the colonel said.

"Well, tell you what", Sonya was getting tired of this game, "If you ever find his body, you can charge me with murder one. Otherwise, stuff it!".

"Sir, I don't think lieutenant Blade would kill him in cold blood", Scott kept coming to her defense.

Sonya stared at him with a confused look because she didn't even know why he was putting himself on the line for her. She was ready to be discharged, even dishonorably, and to be flown back to the states. She had known the consequences from the beginning.

Scott's brave attempt didn't have much effect on the outcome, though, because they were both summarily dismissed after the colonel told her of her imminent discharge. They both walked out of the office and, as soon as the door was closed behind them, Sonya stared at Scott, wanting an explanation for his behavior.

"What the hell was _that_ about?", she demanded.

"I was just trying to help you out", he responded, "Didn't do much good, though, did it?".

"Why?", was her next question.

"Why what?".

"_Why_ were you trying to help me out?!", Sonya pressed on.

"Look, I figured you deserved it".

"Well, thanks, but I was ready for this ever since I got on that boat after Kano", she let him know, "I was expecting it".

"So where're you gonna go, lieutenant?", Scott seemed genuinely concerned.

"There's a flight from here to Washington DC in two days. I'm gonna be on it. I'm meeting my father there".

"What about _until_ then?".

"I'll just get a motel room or something", Sonya figured, "Don't worry about me, Scott. Just pretend you never saw me in this base. You'll be better off".

As she was about to walk away from the base for the last time, Scott stopped her by grabbing her arm. Sonya was surprised at his action and looked down at his hand on her bicep, so Scott instantly let her go.

"_What_??", she demanded.

"I just gotta know", Scott couldn't rest until he was told, "Is Kano really dead?".

Sonya stopped, wondering whether she should answer the question or not. Finally, after staring at him for several seconds, she simply nodded once.

She was about to leave, then she remembered she still had a few items in her room that she should take with her wherever she's headed.

"By the way", she asked him, "Is my stuff still in my room?".

"Yeah. We _were_ hoping you'd come back, despite what that moron says", he answered by pointing at the office from where they both emerged, "Nobody touched it".

"Great!".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya returned to her old room in the barracks, packed up the few clothes she had in her gym bag and also retrieved her clips for the Glock. She put on a blouse, sneakers and a pair of blue jeans that she hadn't worn since she came into the base. She also reminded herself that she had to get a new 9mm semiautomatic when she went back to the states. She then put whatever money she had in her right pants pocket and left the room as well as the base for good.

Holding the gym back over her right shoulder, Sonya started walking as soon as she had been outside the barb-wired fence of the base. There were plenty of buildings around, but she needed somewhere to stay for the next 48 hours until her flight across the ocean. After being on foot for about twenty minutes, she ran into a MOTEL sign and figured it was as good a place as any to try out. She walked up the steps that led to the front door, turned the knob with her left hand and entered. A middle-aged man behind the counter looked at her as she took several steps towards him in the dimly lit room. When she reached the counter, she set the gym bag down on the floor.

"How much for a room?", she asked him.

"Are you American?", the man asked back.

"Yes", there was no point in hiding the fact since it was clear she wasn't a native of Hong Kong.

"Thirty American dollars for night", the man told her in broken English, "Can you afford?".

"Yeah, that's fine", Sonya said as she reached into her right pocket and withdrew all the cash she had.

She then selected a twenty dollar bill and a ten dollar bill from the whole amount and put it on the counter. The man handed her a key with the number 22 on it. Just as she picked up the gym bag and was about to head for the hallway beyond the counter to look for room 22, she remembered something else she wanted to ask for.

"By the way,", she went on, "do the rooms have a telephone in them?".

"No phone", the man's reply was.

"Oh. Because I need to make a phone call too", she told him as she noticed the phone he had next to him on the counter, so she pointed towards it , "Would it be possible for me to use _that_?".

"Long distance?", the man looked somewhat suspicious.

"Well, yes", Sonya answered, "But I _am_ willing to pay for it".

With that, she handed him another twenty dollar bill. No matter how far she was planning to call, it couldn't have cost more than the amount she offered, the man reasoned, so he took the fifty dollars and handed her the phone. Sonya picked it up with her left hand as she put the gym bag back on the floor and dialed a number she promised she would. She then put the phone to her ear and counted the number of times it rang. It rang three times before someone picked it up.

"Yeah?", the man on the other end responded.

"Johnny? It's Sonya", she spoke into the receiver.

"Hey, Sonya!", Johnny Cage was evidently happy to hear her voice, "How did it go? Did you find out?".

"Oh yeah! I found out all right", she told him, "I got kicked out".

"You're kidding!", Johnny went on, "I don't _believe_ it! How can they _do_ that?".

"I was expecting it, so it really aien't a surprise", she realized he was more upset than she was, "But that means I'm coming home the day after tomorrow".

"OK", Johnny went over the plans to make sure there were no misunderstandings, "Don't forget, I'll be in terminal C at 2:00 PM at the latest. Is your plane still touching down at one?".

"As far as I know", Sonya said, "I'll tell dad that I need to wait for you".

"Great", Johnny sounded pleased, "I'm sorry, Sonya. Those idiots don't know what they're missing by letting you go".

"Yeah, well. It happens...So I'll see you there".

"OK, I look forward to it".

"Me too. Bye", she wanted to end the conversation fast so it wouldn't cost the motel manager an arm and a leg when the phone bill arrived.

"See ya", Johnny answered before he hung up on the other end.

Sonya hung up and then pushed the phone back towards the manager. She said "Thanks" with a smile, picked up the gym back and proceeded to walk down the hallway as originally planned. The first rooms on her left were in the teens. After following the path of the hallway and turning to the right, the first room on her left was number 20. Then came 21 and then 22. She used the key to unlock the door and stepped inside.

The room was pretty small with one small window, but it suited her fine for the next two days. She closed the door behind her, locked it using the deadbolt and then put the gym bag down on the wooden floor. Next, she walked over to the bed and sat on the edge to take her sneakers off. She was tired enough as it was, so after her feet were bare, she decided to lie down with her jeans and blouse still on. The bed felt about the same as her bunk bed did back in the barracks as she didn't use the covers because it was a fairly warm evening. She was asleep within minutes...

When she woke up, she saw the sun shining through the motel room window. She took a few seconds out to stretch her arms and legs in bed before getting up. Sitting on the bed, she yawned as she planted both feet on the cool wooden floor. She then stood up, walked towards the gym bag and reached inside to find her wristwatch. The watch informed her that it was almost 8:00 AM before she put it back in the sack.

Sonya then rubbed her eyes as she was wondering what she should do for the next 24 hours before she had to catch the flight back home. She was still pondering about it when someone knocked on the door. Surprised, she walked up to the locked door as she thought who could be looking for her. After all, no one knew she was here except for the middle-aged man who gave her the key to the room. By reasoning that it could only be him, she decided to undo the deadbolt to open the door.

"Yeah, what is it?", she asked expecting to see the manager as the pulled the door wide open.

To her amazement, she found herself staring at Scott as he stood a foot beyond the doorway dressed in a commando-style black pants, boots and tank top. He was holding a grocery bag.

"_You_?", she asked astonished, "What're you doing _here_?".

"I was looking for you", he simply stated.

"Wait a second!", she got suspicious, "How did you even _find _me?".

"Lieutenant,", Scott replied as if the answer was obvious, "this motel is the only one within a five mile radius almost. It made sense that you'd come here. I just walked in here two minutes ago and when the manager saw me, he was like 'You looking for American girl?' and I said 'Yes'. So he told me you were in 22".

"That still doesn't tell me what you're doing here", Sonya insisted.

"I wanted to see if you needed anything, that's all", Scott defended himself, "Can I come in?".

"Yeah, I guess", Sonya stood aside next to the open door to let him walk through the doorway.

As Scott entered the room and put the grocery bag on the bed, Sonya wasn't through asking questions.

"So you're checking up on me now, is that it?", she told him exactly what was on her mind.

"I just figured you needed to find a way to sustain yourself for two days, you know what I'm saying, lieutenant?".

"You brought _groceries_?", she asked since she recognized the kind of paper bag he had with him.

"Yeah", was the only thing he said.

"How?...When?", she was curious.

"We get a break every once in a while in the mornings. So I told them I was going to a fast food place to unwind".

"Oh", she was flattered that he did so many things for her, so she smiled as she crossed her arms, "So...What did you bring me?".

"Nothing major. Just something to keep you alive until tomorrow", he emptied the contents of the bag on the bed mattress.

There was some bread, cheese and two apples.

"I _do_ appreciate it, Scott", she went on after seeing the merchandise, "But I still don't understand _why_".

"Look, lieutenant", his tone became more serious, "What happened to you was _wrong_. I really felt bad when they let you go... You had the guts to go after Kano when nobody else did, so they made you pay for it. That's not right".

"It wasn't your fault, Scott", Sonya reassured him, "If anything, _I_ should be the one who feels bad... What you did ever since I got back was _way_ more than I deserved, especially after how I treated you before I left for the dance club. _That_ wasn't right".

"Oh", Scott told her by waving his hand, "That's old news".

"Look, I know you were trying to help out. If I had more common sense I would've seen it instead of biting your head off like that", it was as close as Sonya was planning to come to an apology.

"So you're really leaving after tomorrow for good, huh?", Scott asked by placing both his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, I'll try to find something in Washington DC", Sonya let him know, "My dad already told me before I returned into the base that if I got kicked out that he'd have my old room ready for me at home. I guess I'm lucky, huh?".

"Can I come with you?", Scott asked with a large grin on his face.

"What???", Sonya answered his question with a question of her own with a surprised smile.

"Well, I _do _have two weeks of vacation that I haven't taken, and all we need now is to give 24 hours' notice", Scott answered, "Who knows? I could help you find something".

"You're serious?".

"Yeah!".

"Well, I _guess_ that would be OK", she told him, somewhat surprised at her answer, "You'd have to sleep on the couch, though, because my dad doesn't have an extra room in his place for you too".

"Oh, that's fine!", Scott went on.

He then sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at her. Sonya could distinctly see that there was something else on his mind. Before she could ask, he told her.

"So... You wanna tell me what exactly happened when you went after Kano?".

"Why do you wanna know?", she asked him with a stern look.

"He killed lieutenant Richards, _that's_ why!", he countered, "And God knows how many other good people both before _and_ after him, lieutenant".

"Call me Sonya", she first answered as she sat next to him.

"So... You really wanna know everything?", she was hoping he'd say 'Yes' because she wanted to tell someone about her experiences after she boarded Shang Tsung's boat.

"Of course...", Scott's fortunate response was, "And don't worry, I aien't taping this conversation".

"Good", she started from the beginning, "Well, after I got on that boat and it sailed, I found out I was one of the people from earth who had been called to a tournament called Mortal Kombat to protect the realm of Earth from the realm of Outworld".

Her use of the words made Scott think she was being sarcastic and didn't want to tell him what really happened.

"Come one, Sonya. Be serious", he told her.

"I _am_!", she reassured him, "I was there with Liu, who was one of the guys on our side, and Johnny Cage. We defeated some sorcerer and saved this world by finishing off his warriors one at a time. I killed Kano in a hand-to-hand match".

"You were there with Johnny Cage. The movie actor", Scott repeated and it was obvious he didn't believe a word she said.

"Yes!", she responded, "In fact, I'm gonna meet him at the airport tomorrow also".

"_You're_ gonna get together with Johnny Cage".

"Uhuh", she nodded.

"Sonya," he sighed with a faint smile as he stared at her, "How stupid do you think I am?".

"I am _not_ making this up!", she protested, "_You_ were the one who wanted the truth!".

"Yeah, OK", he answered sarcastically as he stood up, "Look, the break's gonna be over in about half an hour, so I better get back to the base. If you ever feel like telling me what _really_ happened, maybe one day you will".

"I _knew_ you wouldn't believe me", Sonya told him as he headed for the door.

"No offense, Sonya. But that story is about as believable as a man lifting up a tank with one hand".

"Well, actually,", Sonya went on as she stood up also, "We didn't do it alone. Rayden, the god of lightning, helped us out a lot".

Scott laughed out loud when he heard Rayden's description.

"The _god_ of _lightning_???", he repeated hysterically, "Sonya, this is the real world! It's not a mythology book!".

Sonya wasn't amused at his remark, although she understood why he was skeptical of her story.

"Actually,", Scott went on as he stopped laughing, "If you wanna see a mythology character come to life, you should see the guy I'm going after tonight... There's this guy, they call him the Minotaur. He spends most of his time in a wrestling arena slash bar. Every time he sees an American soldier, he harasses them. Yesterday night, he saw one of our humvees and he punched the windshield in with his bare hands. One of our guys needed several stitches because he was hit by glass. So I'm going over there to tell him to calm down".

"You're not going alone, are you?", she sounded concerned.

"Well, yeah, I am. But it's not like I'm going there looking for a fight. I'm just gonna tell him that we can't tolerate that kind of treatment".

"Don't you think that's a little careless?".

"Nobody else is interested in coming along. They just think we should leave it alone as if our guy was responsible for his own bruises", Scott told her, "I don't".

"You can't go there alone", Sonya tried to reason with him, "You'll be inviting trouble if you do... Look, if I'm gonna take you with me tomorrow, they you take me with you tonight. Fair enough?".

"Fine", Scott wasn't about to argue because he wanted to have someone with him in case things got nasty.

"What time is it planned for?", was Sonya's next question.

"I'm getting off for a break at 10:00 tonight. I'm gonna see him right afterwards".

"OK, come on by here and I'll come along. It's safer that way".

"Fine with me", Scott smiled, "See you then".

With those words, he walked out the door and left her alone. She hoped he would not change his mind and decide to take on the Minotaur alone later on that night.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott did not disappoint her because after the uneventful day turned to night, he came by and knocked on the door to her motel room. By then Sonya had changed and was wearing the most comfortable clothes she knew of, mainly shorts and a T-shirt. Scott still had his commando outfit with only the tank top on as he motioned her to follow him. While exiting the motel and heading for a jeep from the base, Scott brought her up to date about the latest events with him.

"I already told that prick colonel that I was taking my two weeks starting tomorrow. He couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he had to let me go", he gladly told her.

"Good", was her reply, "Still no one else wants to come with you, huh?".

"No!", he seemed a bit agitated at the point, "I _still_ can't believe how those guys could walk away like that".

"I'm sure they have their reasons", Sonya calmly told him.

Ever since she had returned from the tournament, she started seeing people in general through a more generous and optimistic eye. It was because she and her friends had fought for everybody on the planet and that fact brought her closer to others than she would ordinarily be.

As she reached the jeep and climbed into the front passenger seat, Scott took the wheel and started the engine. They were soon on their way to meeting someone who was considered to be a pain by many people on the base. She knew that this was probably the last time she'd do something on behalf of the military base in Hong Kong.

The ride only took them a few minutes as Scott was explaining the situation to her and keeping an eye on the road at the same time.

"This guy started bugging us about five months ago for the first time", he told her, "I only saw him once in a crowded area, but it was enough to tell me that he was huge... So, whatever happens, just let_ me_ do all the talking, OK Sonya?".

"I hear you", she answered while staring at the road as they reached the arena.

Scott stopped the jeep and they both promptly got out of it. The place was surrounded by scores of people, most of whom were drinking, as Sonya cracked her knuckles in the clear night sky before following Scott inside. She wasn't looking for a fight, but she wanted to be ready in case one found her. Once inside, Scott's clothes immediately put them on the receiving end of curious stares as people were wondering what an Army personnel was doing there. Especially considering that those people used U.S. Army equipment and personnel to play annoying jokes on.

Scott began to walk around in the crowed place next to people who were either drinking or ordering refills. He was followed by Sonya who was a few feet behind him as he visually searched for the one they called the Minotaur. As he was still searching, a man who was obviously drunk walked up to Sonya from behind and wrapped his right arm around her as he held a bottle with his left hand.

"How 'bout you and me, baaabbb...Baby?", he asked as he leaned on her because he couldn't stand up straight.

The smell of alcohol was so strong from his mouth that Sonya reasoned that she would've been able to smell it even if her nose was clogged from the flu.

Scott turned around and quickly walked back to get the drunk off her. But before he reached them, Sonya smiled at the man and held his right wrist with both her hands.

"Not tonight", she politely answered as she lifted his arm off her shoulders and set it on the bar; the man leaned on the bar without a protest and kept drinking.

When Scott walked up to her in the crowd, she had forgotten all about the drunk and wanted to know how his search was going.

"Did you find him?", she asked.

"No, but this place is pretty big. It's likely he's around. All I have to do is look....", Scott was cut off in midsentence as someone who was about twenty feet behind Sonya caught his attention.

"There he is!!", he exclaimed and walked past her, headed for the man he came to find.

Within minutes, they had both reached the Minotaur. He was in his early thirties and sitting at a table with an attractive lady who was about Sonya's age as he was drinking like everyone else. There were also three other men with him, but he was by far the biggest in size. He was just three or four inches short of seven feet tall and extremely muscular, as could be seen because he wasn't wearing anything above the belt. Among the loud conversations elsewhere in the place, Scott walked up to him and raised his voice so he could be heard.

"Hey, Minotaur!", Scott went on, "I'm from the Army base!... You know, the base whose humvee you fucked up yesterday? You wanna stop doing that??".

At the verbal confrontation, the Minotaur looked at the lady and then the three men right before all five of them laughed.

"What's your problem?", the lady next to the Minotaur addressed Scott.

"Hey, she asked you a question!!", the Minotaur told Scott as he stood up and shoved his right index finger into his chest.

Although Scott was in good physical shape, the Minotaur towered over him and easily outweighed him by a hundred pounds.

"And who is _she_?", Scott asked him.

"That's my wife Helena!", the Minotaur barked by looking down at him.

"Yeah!", Helena stood up next to her husband to face Scott too as Sonya came by and positioned herself next to him.

"...And we don't like your kind of attitude!", Helena then snapped at Scott.

"Cool it, _Helena_!", Sonya sarcastically emphasized her name, "This isn't about you".

"How _dare_ you?", Helena snapped at her as Sonya widened her eyes, "_Nobody_ talks to me that way!".

With those words, Helena raised her right forearm and swung back because she was planning to slap Sonya in the face. Seeing it coming from a mile away, Sonya grabbed her right wrist with her left hand and intentionally pushed it towards Helena so the Minotaur's wife actually ended up slapping herself with her own hand.

Everybody who was around gasped with shock as they saw what happened. Helena looked so furious that Sonya thought her eyeballs were about to pop out of her face.

"Sweetie!", Helena barked at her husband while still looking Sonya straight in the eyes, "Take this blondie out! Now!".

With that, the people who were surrounding them cheered the Minotaur in order to encourage him to go on with the fight.

"You're going _down_ for that!", the Minotaur pointed at Sonya with his index finger.

"What?", Sonya sounded and felt defiant as she positioned both hands around her waist, "You're gonna beat _me_ up now?".

"Not here! I only fight in the ring!", the Minotaur answered, "Why don't you and I go there if you feel like being so tough?".

There was a kickboxing ring surrounded by three levels of rope about ten yards away from them. That's where the Minotaur pointed as over a dozen men stood behind and around both Sonya and Scott in case they decided to flee. Sonya had no intention of running as she first looked at Scott and then at the Minotaur before she answered.

"You're on, tough guy!".

Sonya headed towards the ring without saying anything else while Scott followed her and protested all the way until she reached it.

"You can't do this!!!", he kept objecting, "I'm not sure if _I _could take this guy!! And he's twice your size, literally!!! Sonya, are you listening???".

Sonya didn't answer as she climbed into the ring and looked up at the ceiling as she inhaled and exhaled to relax herself. People were still cheering the Minotaur on as he made his way into the ring in his own turn. It reminded Sonya a lot of when she saw Goro marching towards a match back on Shang Tsung's island. There was a time when she had actually prepared herself to try to take on the four-armed Prince of Pain before Johnny Cage volunteered himself. So, since she had prepared herself to go up against Goro, the Minotaur didn't scare her one bit.

As her opponent entered the ring, though, Scott felt scared for her as the 300 pound Minotaur screamed to rouse up the crowd and himself.

"Get out of the ring, Sonya!!! I'm taking your place!!", Scott almost screamed even though he was outside the ring and holding on to the ropes just three feet away from her.

Sonya locked eyes with him and saw fear in his expression. Not fear for himself, but for her.

"You don't have to", she calmly answered.

"The hell I don't!! You aren't gonna kill yourself like this!!", Scott asserted.

"Are you sure you can take him?", Sonya was still calm.

"No!! But I at least I have a chance!! His right _arm_ weighs more than you do!!!".

"Really, Scott", she took two steps and walked up to him, "Would you be telling me this if I was one of the other guys from the base?".

"Maybe not", Scott shot back, "But excuse _me_ for not wanting to see a lady get stepped on by a goddamn freak of nature!".

"That's nowhere _near_ a freak", Sonya responded with Goro still on her mind.

"Fine!!", Scott seemed furious that she wouldn't trade places with him, "But if you lose, then I fight him next".

"OK", Sonya flatly replied before she turned away from him and took several steps to come closer to the center of the ring.

As she and her opponent neared the center of the ring, a man who was acting as a referee walked up to them both and simply made one statement.

"The only rule is, there_ are_ no rules".

He then took several steps behind until he reached the ropes and then screamed "Fight!!" right before he exited the ring.

As the Minotaur swung his right arm back and tried to punch, Sonya twisted to her right and used her left ankle to kick him in the side of the knee. The Minotaur screamed in pain and bent over somewhat to grab his knee as Sonya then twisted to her left and kicked him in the head with her right leg.

The second kick sent her opponent crashing on the mat on his right side. As he was on his hands and knees, trying to stand back up, Sonya ran to him and kicked him in the head like she was trying to punt a football. The kick bloodied the Minotaur's face and he screamed in pain, but he still managed to stand back up. He was angrier than ever as he regained his balance. He had never been humiliated like this when he fought men, he remembered to himself. It was the only thought Sonya allowed him to have because she next took a huge step towards him with her left leg, brought all her weight down on her left foot and kicked him in the chest with all her strength. That hit sent the Minotaur staggering back until he hit the ropes where his head and torso swung outside the ring, but the rest of his body kept him inside the ropes.

Sonya realized her chance. As her adversary's back was still touching the ropes, she took two large and fast steps towards his direction and fly kicked him. As the bottom of her sneakers impacted into his massive chest, the force pushed the Minotaur over the ropes and his back crashed on the wooden floor outside the ring.

As he was groaning in pain, Sonya caught her breath and climbed out of the ring after him as the voices of the crowd started cheering her on. She jumped down on the wooden floor and hurriedly walked towards him before he got a chance to stand back up. While he was still on his back, she reached him and kept walking until she was standing on the floor on either side of his waist. She bent over until her face was two feet from his. After making eye contact, she slapped him in the face with her right hand. She didn't want to hurt him, only wanted to get his attention, which she did.

"Will you _listen_ to them?!?", she almost screamed in his face, "They want me to keep hitting you when you're down! You think your wife will love you more after you broke every bone in my body?... _Listen_ to them! This is just _fun_ for them! What are you? Just a piece of meat that acts as a human punching bag and a human pit bull?!?".

After that lecture, she straightened her back up so she was at her full height and took four steps back so she wasn't standing over him any more. As he stood back up, she continued.

"Look, I don't wanna fight, and I don't think _you_ do either. We can end this right now. We both walk away and no one wins and no one loses. What do you say?".

She extended her right hand as he was standing at his full height too. The things that she told him must've made sense because the Minotaur reached for her hand with his own. But just as he was about to grip her hand, an irate Helena walked up to the two of them.

"Wadda you doin'?", she demanded as she stared at her husband, "Don't you know what she _did_ to me?".

"Look, I'll apologize if I have to, OK?", Sonya smiled at her to lighten the mood, "I'm sorry".

With that, Sonya reached over and kissed Helena on the right cheek.

"I hope that makes up for it", she added.

The Minotaur wasn't going to stay angry at someone who apologized to his wife in such a way and Helena's vengeful face seemed to ease up as the large crowd still didn't understand what was going on. When Scott reached Sonya after making his way through people, she pointed at him as she addressed the Minotaur one more time.

"Oh. This is my friend Scott", she told him, "And he'd appreciate it if you didn't punch out any more of his windshields, OK?".

With that, Sonya turned around and smiled at Scott as she walked towards the door from which they had both entered. He followed her out, still not being able to believe how she handled her opponent in the ring. The crowd was visibly disappointed with the outcome, but no one gave the two of them any trouble because it was easier to hit the bottle for fun than it was to hit a person. That was especially true considering that this person had just beaten their champion in a fair fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On the ride back to her motel, Scott couldn't keep his thoughts to himself about the event he had just witnessed.

"That was very impressive, Sonya", he said, "I didn't give you enough credit".

"Well, I just did my best", Sonya smiled back, flattered by the comment, "But I was still glad you were there to intervene in case something went wrong".

She waited a few seconds and then spoke again when he didn't answer.

"You _would've_ intervened if he had come down on me, right?", she asked by turning to her left to see him.

"Naturally", was his answer.

"Oh, good", she replied.

After reaching the motel, Sonya jumped out of the passenger side without opening

the door. She then stared at the driver in order to make sure that everything was still planned for the following day.

"Are you sure you wanna do this tomorrow?", she asked.

"You mean come with you to Washington?".

"Yeah", she told him, "This is your last chance to pull out of the deal and stay here for vacation".

She wasn't trying to get rid of him, only wanted to make sure it's what he really wanted.

"I'll come along", Scott answered, "This place could never excite me during off hours anyway".

Sonya leaned forward with her elbows on the front passenger side door as she still kept staring at him.

"You better not be doing it because you feel sorry for me", she warned him.

"Don't worry about _that_", he reassured her, "After tonight, I'm sure you can handle any situation by yourself. I just wanna be there to witness it. Someday when you're famous, I'll be able to tell people that we both fought side by side once".

"Gee, thanks", Sonya grinned because she found the thought of her becoming famous amusing.

She stood back up straight, tapped on the front passenger door with her right open palm before she wanted to head inside.

"You better get back to the base", she added, "Just make sure you're here tomorrow at eight hundred hours sharp because if you're late, I'll just have to leave without you".

"_I'll_ be here", he guaranteed her, "See you tomorrow".

With that, he drove the car back and then proceeded down the street to return to his base. Sonya stood her ground and waved once with her forearm before she turned around and walked into the motel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once inside, she greeted the middle-aged man who was still seated behind the counter reading a book and then headed for room number 22. Like the previous night, she unlocked the door, stepped inside and put the deadbolt on. She then stood on her right leg as she lifted her left foot off the floor to pull off her left sneaker. After dropping the left sneaker on the floor, she stood on her bare left foot and lifted her right foot in order to do the same for the right sneaker. Afterwards, she slipped into bed and closed her eyes, knowing tomorrow would be a big day. She was planning to see her father for the first time in almost a year as well as fellow mortal kombatant Johnny Cage; all while bringing a commando that she met only a few days ago to live with her at her father's home for two weeks. Things couldn't get any more exciting than this, she told herself as she fell asleep...

The next morning, she was wide awake and dressed in a different pair of shorts and T-shirt before 6:30 AM even though she didn't have to be leave for the airport until 8:00. Since she couldn't think of anything to do, she strapped on her wristwatch and decided to grab her gym bag, her plane ticket and the key to room number 22 in order to leave the motel for a walk in the cool morning. As she left her room, she walked down the hallway towards the counter. Once there, she saw the middle-aged man still standing there reading a book. He somewhat reminded her of Jax because he appeared to be doing the same thing after she woke up that he was doing before she went to sleep.

"Thanks a lot for the room", she told him with a smile as she handed him the key.

"You enjoy stay?", the man asked as he took the key and placed it behind the counter.

"Yeah, it was great!", she exaggerated a bit while still smiling.

"You leaving today?", he asked next.

"Yeah, I'm outta here", she answered.

"Planning to come back?", was his next question.

She didn't mind answering because she really didn't have anything else important to do. Besides, she thought, she was actually going to miss Hong Kong because she had considered it to be her home for the last year. It would've been nice if she spent her last two hours talking to someone who she believed was clearly born here.

"No", she informed him, "I'm leaving for good. I'm never coming back".

"Oh", the man answered.

"It wasn't my choice", she went on and her facial expression became a bit more serious as she rested the gym bag on the floor, "I got kicked out of the Army base that's stationed a couple of miles from here".

"Why kicked out?", he was getting interested because he realized she needed to tell somebody about her experiences.

"They didn't like the way I carried on without following some moron's orders", she went on, "But I really knew this was coming for a while. It was my choice to do things this way".

"Took risks?", the man asked.

"Yeah, I did. For _everybody's _sake", Sonya told him remembering Kano, "I chased after a criminal who had done more damage to the world that even _he_ could remember. The moron in charge of the base didn't like the fact that I stole his spotlight by doing it".

"Brave of you", the man told her.

"Thanks", she went on, "Anyway. I followed him into this really old boat and it turned out this other guy was using this criminal as bait to drag me and a few other brave guys to a tournament where we _had_ to win or it was lights out for everybody in this world. So there, there was this four-armed guy who had more muscles on him than five bodybuilders put together. The amazing part is, one of my friends actually beat him".

Sonya then went on to tell the manager about her fight with Kano, about Scorpion and Sub-zero, her kidnapping by Shang Tsung, her rescue by Johnny and Liu and about their face-off with Shao Kahn. She didn't even realize that she spent ninety minutes straight on her feet talking to the man, so she was surprised when Scott came through the door with a gym bag of his own over his shoulder.

"You ready, Sonya?", he asked after he saw her at the counter.

"Well, we don't have to go _now_", she resisted because she wanted to keep on talking, "There's still time".

"Sonya, the plane takes off in thirty minutes", Scott was puzzled.

"_What_?", she looked at her wristwatch and realized that it was indeed an hour and a half later; she hadn't even noticed the time passing.

"Oh wow!", she laughed as she looked at the motel manager, "I guess I have to go! It was _very_ nice to talk to you, though! Thank you for listening".

She extended her right hand towards him. Seeing it, he held it with his own right hand as he smiled back.

"I'm Sonya, by the way", she told him as she put her left hand palm-down on her chest.

With that, she picked up her gym bag and walked towards Scott as the manager was still trying to absorb everything she had told him. After she walked out of the door and into the street, the manager turned his attention back to his book.

"Too much video games in America", he told himself.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ride to the airport was short and uneventful, which meant it was good news for Sonya. After they arrived there, both she and Scott handed the flight attendant their ticket and boarded the plane. While looking for their seat number, they realized that Sonya's seat was all the way in the front of the plane and Scott's seat was near the back.

"Let's just strap in", Sonya told him, "When they tell us that we can unfasten the safety belts, I'll come over to your section of the plane".

"OK", Scott replied as he realized she was staring at his clothes.

"What?", he then demanded.

"Nothing", she answered, "I just haven't seen you without that commando outfit on before. It seems funny seeing you in civilian clothes".

"Well, I _do_ have an outfit in my bag. They let me keep it during my vacation. That was so nice of them".

"Yeah, right", she grinned as she headed towards her seat.

Soon the plane took off into the air and the passengers were informed that they could unfasten their safety belts and smoke. Sonya hastily undid her safety belt, grabbed her gym bag and got out of her seat to head towards the rear of the aircraft. There, she found Scott staring at the ceiling with a bored look on his face.

"If you're doing anything important, I _could _come back", she told him amused.

"_Please_! Stay", he answered.

There were no empty seats around Scott anywhere, so Sonya decided to sit on the floor next to him after placing her gym bag on the floor also. She could've moved away in case anyone wanted to pass by, she thought to herself. Her position attracted Scott's attention as well as everybody else's very quickly.

"Oh", Scott told her as he stood up, "Here. The seat's yours".

"No! No!", Sonya protested, "It's OK! You can have it".

"I _aien't_ grabbing a seat if you don't have one!", Scott insisted.

"But I'm _fine_!", Sonya countered looking up at him as they were getting stares from other passengers.

"Well", Scott crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I guess neither one of us is taking the seat".

With those words, Scott sat down on the floor and faced her. The well-dressed businessman who was in his forties and seated next to Scott's seat had enough of the spectacle.

"Hey, miss", he addressed Sonya, "Did you come from up front?".

"Yeah", Sonya looked up at him and pointed towards the front of the plane, "My seat is number 9B".

"I'll move", the businessman sharply said as he stood up, picked out two small bags from the baggage compartment overhead and headed to the front of the plane.

"Thank you!!", Sonya yelled out smiling as he was heading towards her seat.

She laughed lightly as the man didn't turn around. At least now, they could sit next to each other, she told herself as both she and Scott stood back up to take the two available seats. She first placed the gym bag in the overhead compartment and crashed down in Scott's seat as he took the businessman's seat. They were bracing themselves for the long trip to Washington DC.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They were in the plane so long that they lost count of the time after the fifth hour. When they finally landed in the Washington DC airport, Sonya and Scott exited the aircraft with their bag and realized their muscles were incredibly tense. They walked out of Terminal A as Sonya was scanning every person around so she'd be able to spot her father. After a minute or so in the crowded terminal, she saw him about ten yards away at the same time that he saw her.

"DADDYYY!!!", she yelled out smiling as she suddenly dropped her gym bag at Scott's feet and rushed forward.

She reached her father within seconds despite the crowd and put both her arms around him with as much strength as she could. Scott walked up behind her while she was still hugging her father as he held his gym bag as well as hers. Sonya turned around promptly as she let go and took her gym bag back after thanking her traveling companion.

"Daddy,", she went on pointing at him, "this is Scott. Can he stay with us for two weeks?".

"You mean in the _house_?", major Herman Blade was surprised since he didn't know anyone else was coming with her.

"Oh, he'll sleep on the couch, don't worry about that", Sonya pressed her point still smiling, "Can he stay, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase?".

"OK, fine", her father gave up as he shook Scott's hand, "So, are you stationed in the base too?".

"Yes sir", Scott answered, "I got two weeks of vacation and I figured I might as well take it now".

"So, who is _this_, Sonya?", her father asked while he still held Scott's hand, "Your boyfriend? It's about _time_ you got one".

The mention of the word surprised Scott so much that he widened his eyes as he heard her father talking about him in such a way, but Sonya just ignored the question.

"Say, daddy", she asked, "what time is it here? My watch is still based on Hong Kong time".

Her father looked at his wristwatch before he answered.

"It's 1:49 PM. Why?".

"1:49? That means he could already be here", Sonya told both Scott and her father.

"Who?", they both asked at the same time.

"Daddy, I'm meeting another friend here at the airport. He's at Terminal C", she then turned around to face Scott with a happy face, "Remember? I told you I was meeting Johnny Cage here".

"Oh, not _that_ line again!", Scott answered.

"Johnny Cage? As in the actor?", her father asked.

"That's what she keeps insisting", Scott brought him up to date.

"I'm telling you guys, he's actually here!", Sonya told them both, "I have to go to Terminal C to see him".

"Well, look", her father went on, "You two do whatever you want, I wanna go to the parking lot and bring the car around. I'll meet you two, or three, whatever the case may be, by that side entrance".

He pointed towards an entrance that was about a hundred yards away with his index finger before he asked one more question.

"Do you want me to take your bags now?".

"No that's fine", Sonya told him, "They're not really that heavy".

"OK", her father answered as he headed for the parking lot.

While she was watching her father walk away, Sonya motioned Scott to follow her.

"Terminal C is through here I think", she told him.

Scott was still not accepting her story of meeting the movie star as true. They both made their way through the crowd as they reached Terminal B. After walking for about three more minutes, they then found the beginning of Terminal C. Scott followed Sonya as she went into this terminal and began scanning every face one more time... After scanning total strangers for about a minute, she noticed a group of people that numbered about thirty who were huddled together in one corner of the terminal. Considering the possibility that Johnny might have been there, she walked up to the group after she motioned to Scott of the direction she was heading.

She approached the group walking at a quick pace. She was about twenty yards away from it when she noticed who the group was huddled around. At the center of the group, Johnny was smiling with his sunglasses on and signing autographs for his many fans. Scott noticed him a few seconds after she did and was amazed.

"What??", he exclaimed, "No way!".

"See?", Sonya smiled, feeling proud of herself, "I told you".

As they both approached the group, they began to hear what was being said. Johnny had just finished signing his name on a piece of paper, so he handed the paper to a teenager who was two feet from him.

"Do I owe you anything for it?", the teenager asked.

"Oh no", Johnny went on still enjoying the attention as he grabbed another piece of paper, "Autographs are free".

Sonya took several more steps towards him in order to get his attention.

"You know", she said loud enough so he'd hear her from ten feet away, "I want your autograph too".

As Johnny looked up to see who said that, the grin on his face widened.

"You know guys. I _do_ have to go, but I am willing to stick around here long enough to sign autographs for anyone who wants 'em", Johnny announced to the crowd before some members in the crowd cheered because of it.

It took the movie star a few more minutes to sign his name for everybody who was around and to shake hands before the crowd let him go with his planned business. He then walked towards Sonya with his arms stretched out in front of him because he hadn't brought any luggage along.

"SONYA!!", he greeted her as she put both her arms around his shoulders.

"It's so good to see you!", she told him after they pulled away.

She then pointed at Scott.

"By the way, this is my friend Scott. He's from the base. Scott, this is my friend Johnny", she introduced them both to each other.

"Hi", Scott said as he shook his hand, "I really didn't think she was being serious when she said she was coming here to see _you_".

"Yeah, well", Johnny went on, "Sonya and I go _way_ back. And I _do_ mean waaaayyy!".

"Definitely", Sonya snickered, "Look, Johnny. My dad's bringing the car around to one of the entrances. Why don't you come _with_ us? We can catch up on current events over lunch".

"Well, sure", Johnny gladly answered, "I'd love to".

With that, the trio headed for the side entrance where her father had pointed out to her. Herman Blade was already there as they exited out of the automatic door. He recognized Johnny right away, but still wanted his daughter to introduce them.

"And who are you?", he asked as he pretended he didn't know.

Before Sonya could say anything, Johnny put his left arm around her shoulder and answered for her.

"I'm her boyfriend", he announced.

"Wow!", Sonya's father exclaimed, "Two at _once_? I'm impressed... But that's OK, honey. That's actually how I met your mother. I was boyfriend number three".

"Oh shut up!", Sonya laughed out loud, "You're gonna give these two ideas!".

"Actually sir", Johnny became serious as he took his arm off Sonya's shoulder and extended his right hand, "I'm Johnny Cage the actor".

"Really? I didn't recognize you", Herman Blade lied as he shook his hand, "I don't really watch movies that much".

"Daddy, we were planning to go home and get some lunch", Sonya told him.

"Well, this morning I thought I was only going to have her in the car on the way back home", Herman Blade told the trio, "But what the hell. The more the merrier".

That was their invitation to get into the car.

While all four of them were seated in Herman Blade's living room eating whatever could be found in the refrigerator, Johnny reasoned that it was only appropriate to talk about his latest project. His adventure in the tournament was more exciting than any movie he had ever made, but the tournament still remained a very difficult subject to even mention. That was true with Sonya as well, since her father still didn't know anything about it. So Johnny was the center of attention not only because he was good at entertaining people, but also because Sonya had brought the subject up first.

"Say, Johnny", she had wondered out loud, "How come you didn't have any suitcases or anything with you when you came to the airport?".

"The production company is paying all expenses for me while we're filming the movie here. They're paying for everything, including an indefinite stay at the most luxurious hotel here", the actor explained as he bit a portion of a sandwich and held up a key that had the name of very expensive hotel on it, "We're doing a sequel with the same director that I was with right before I met you. The guy drives me nuts sometimes, but I guess it's part of the job"....

As a couple hours passed, the conversation about everything from movies to the weather winded down as evening approached. Sonya's father was curious about their plans.

"So", Herman Blade went on, "Are you kids tired after that flight?".

He wanted to know whether or not he was about to have some time alone with his daughter.

"Actually,", Scott spoke for himself as he stretched out, "I _should_ be exhausted after that plane ride, but I'm not. Do you guys feel like going out for some time longer?".

"OK!", Sonya enthusiastically responded with a smile, disappointing her father without knowing it.

"I _guess_ I could", Johnny didn't want to be left out even though the filming of his movie was scheduled for early the next morning.

"Come on along, daddy!", Sonya addressed her father as she stood up to head for outside.

"No, no...", Herman Blade refused, "I'm tired enough as it is".

He was telling the truth because, after the last few hours, he knew his stage of life wouldn't allow him to keep up with three athletic people who were half his age.

"Oh! Are you _sure_?", Sonya tried to change his mind.

"Yeah. You kids go ahead", was his answer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With that, Scott, Johnny and Sonya headed out for a mall that was a few miles away and open until midnight... Johnny was still wearing his sunglasses even though the sun had already set. While the three of them were still browsing among the shops, a lady about Sonya's age walked up to them, stared at Johnny for a few seconds and then screamed in his face.

"Oh my God!! Look who it is!!", she yelled and then turned around, "Lisa!! Come here!! You'll never guess who it is!!".

As Lisa, who was around the same age, curiously walked up and asked what was the matter, the first lady reached into her purse for a pen and found it.

"Mr. Cage", she went on, looking at him, "Could you make one out addressed to Jamie? That's me".

"Oh, sure", Johnny smiled back.

"Oh my God! It can't be!", Lisa recognized him.

It wasn't a bother for Johnny as he was handed a piece of paper and began to write on it because the ever-present attention was part of the job. He knew, when all was said and done, that his fans were the ones who paid his salary. Thus, he was willing to stick around whenever somebody wanted an autograph. As he was making out the autograph for Jamie, he knew Lisa was next, so he decided to let Scott and Sonya go without him.

"You two go ahead", he looked at them both, "I'll catch up".

"OK", was Sonya's answer before she and Scott turned away and kept on walking.

He was still writing away when they got outside hearing range. Sonya and Scott walked about a hundred yards more in the light crowd as he brought up the subject they had discussed in the motel room in Hong Kong when he first appeared.

"So,", Scott told her, "If you really know Cage, how much of the stuff you said was true?".

"All of it", Sonya answered at once.

"_All_ of it", he repeated to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"Yeah", Sonya stared at him with a look that said she wasn't kidding, "And there's plenty more, too. But I don't think this is the time _or_ the place. I'll tell you about the rest later on sometime".

"Was Johnny on the boat with Kano?", Scott asked.

"Uhuh", Sonya nodded as they approached the main entrance of a superstore that specialized in computers.

There were restsrooms as well as a line of payphones a few yards away from the entrance of the superstore.

"Scott", Sonya said as she stopped and pointed into the superstore, "I need to go in here for a second. You wait outside, I'll only be a couple of minutes".

"Why can't I come along?", a curious Scott asked.

"Look, this is just something I have to do on my own", she told him, "Besides, _I _brought _you _over here, so that means I'm the heroine here and you're my sidekick. Everybody knows the sidekick always does what the hero slash heroine says".

"I'm the sidekick?", Scott asked, pretending he was insulted.

"Do you have a _problem_ being a sidekick?", Sonya asked with her hands extended palms-up at forearms' length from her body, "Because that's the only way you can live at my daddy's place for two weeks".

"Hey!", Scott protested, "That was never in the contract".

"You should read the small print next time, Scott", Sonya smiled as she walked into the superstore and left him standing outside and wondering why she wanted to go in alone.

About two minutes passed with still no signs of Sonya or Johnny as Scott began pacing back and forth in front of the entrance. Just then, the first payphone in the line next to the store entrance rang. Scott counted the number of times it rang and soon reached fifteen before he got sick of the sound and decided to pick it up. He lifted the phone and spoke into it.

"Hello?", he asked.

"What're you doing standing outside the ladies' room you pervert??? I'm gonna call the mall security!!!", Sonya screamed from the other end before she laughed out loud.

"Funny! _Real_ funny!", Scott answered, "_This_ was why you went inside?".

"You have to admit I caught you by surprise", Sonya said as she was still enjoying her prank call.

"You should be a stand up comic, Sonya", Scott told her over the phone, "There's a huge market out there for people like you".

As he was saying that, Scott noticed five men dressed in jungle camouflage in the store and getting into a shoving match with someone who appeared to be an employee. He could see the spectacle because they were inside the store several yards behind the main door, which was made out of glass. Despite their clothes, Scott knew right away that the five men were not in the military. The first clue was that they didn't have any names on the right side of the chest and the second was that two out of the five men were clearly overweight. The only fact Scott knew about the military was that the food did not make one fat. The shoving match soon became a fight because all five men began to hit the store employee as everyone around them dispersed. Scott saw it and wasn't about to stand by and watch it happen.

"Sonya, get over here now!", he changed his tone of voice as he spoke into the phone, "I _think_ we got a problem".

Scott briskly hung up, opened the glass door and rushed into the store to stop the fighting. He recognized that five people against one was a lot more like a beating.

"Hey!!", he screamed as he approached the five men to get their attention, "Get off him!!".

"Who the fuck are you??", one of the beaters asked Scott as he cautiously came closer because they had stopped hitting their victim.

"Leave the guy alone", Scott spoke in a regular tone as the employee was on the floor covering his head.

"Well, maybe we'll turn both you _and_ him into spaghetti", the same man answered as he turned around to look at one his friends, "Wadda you think, Blud?".

"Blood?", Scott sarcastically repeated after him, "What kind of a _stupid _name is that?".

He was hoping that if he angered them enough, then they would divert all their attention towards him and thus stop harming the employee.

"That's B, L, U, D, punk!", the one named Blud spelled out his name. He was about six and a half feet tall and was so muscular that Scott instantly recognized him as being a regular steroids user. Since Blud was the largest in size among the five, he was the leader.

"Kick his ass!", Blud screamed as he lifted his right leg and kicked the employee in the lower back.

Three of the five men charged towards Scott screaming in order to fire themselves up. The two overweight militants were among the three as one of them grabbed a personal computer monitor off a display case and was planning to use it as a weapon. Scott readied himself for the imminent confrontation. The attacker who held the monitor over his head reached Scott first. Scott swiftly twisted to the left and kicked him in the stomach. Attacker #1 then let go of the monitor and bent over gasping for breath as the other two attackers reached Scott.

Scott turned his right hand into a fist and punched attacker #2 right below the eyes. That one staggered back with a yell as he held his broken nose. Attacker #3 tried to tackle his opponent but was so weak that Scott only took one step back after being hit head-on by him. Scott then grabbed attacker #3 by both arms and pushed him a few feet away. Once there, Scott executed a roundhouse kick and his third adversary dropped on the floor with a yell after the back of Scott's ankle impacted into his head.

Seeing the damage Scott had inflicted on his friends, attacker #1 didn't even try to resume his offensive after he recovered from the kick to the stomach. Instead, he quickly took several steps behind to put as much distance between himself and Scott as possible. But Blud didn't want to be so cautious. After the first three attackers failed to harm Scott, he screamed at the top of his lungs and charged ahead all by himself. The fear of seeing the 300 pound man coming straight at him froze Scott for a split second. But a split second was all Blud needed to tackle him, pick him up into the air as he was still running and then slam Scott's body on the floor under his own.

That single hit was enough to knock the wind out of Scott as Blud got back up to his feet. Satisfied, he then grabbed Scott by the collar with his right hand and picked him up in order to inflict more pain. Scott's feet were several inches off the floor as Blud brought his face close to his. The only thing that disappointed Blud was the lack of an audience because everyone had already run out of the store. Just as he was about to punch his victim with his left fist, they both heard someone calling from afar.

"Hey, tough guy!! Let him go now!!".

Blud turned around to see Sonya walking towards him from the back of the store and looking dangerously annoyed with his behavior. She stopped as she reached the employee who was still trying to get up but couldn't. She helped him get back on his feet and then motioned him to stay behind her. Then, standing in front of him, she looked Blud straight in the eyes as Blud's four friends watched to see what would happen next.

"I said put my friend _down_, tough guy!", she ordered.

"You're one to demand things!", Blud grinned as he still held Scott in place, "I can break you even more easily than I can break _him_. What makes you think a piece of meat with an attitude can take on _me_?".

"I'm the best", she calmly challenged him, "And if _I'm_ the best, then that makes _you_ inferior. Yeah, why don't you try it?".

Blud released Scott and let him fall back on the floor. Knowing that three of his friends were somewhat hurt after the first assault, he stared at the man in jungle camouflage who hadn't tried to rush Scott. The fourth militant's stare instantly told Blud that he would get assistance.

"I hope you don't mind if it's two on one, bitch", Blud announced as both he and the other attacker closed in on her about sixty degrees away from each other with the main entrance behind them.

The smaller man rushed forward first with a yell as he intended to tackle her and then pin her on the floor so Blud would be impressed. He was about her height and very skinny. As he got within a few feet of Sonya, she twisted around to her right and kicked him in the chest with her left foot. As the bottom of her shoe collided with his chest, the strength of the kick sent him flying out of the store. The man screamed as his body shattered the glass door and then landed several feet outside the main entrance in front of dozens of surprised and cautious spectators. After witnessing the damage done, Sonya was actually surprised at her own strength.

"Wow!", she exclaimed, "It's _one _on one now".

Seeing that, Blud rushed towards her by himself with sadistic thoughts in his head. Sonya ran forward for three steps, concentrated her weight on her left foot and fly kicked him with her right leg. The violent contact of her right foot into Blud's stomach hurt her opponent as he gasped and took several steps back. Before he got a chance to recover, Sonya followed him and kicked him right below his left knee. The result was that Blud screamed and came down on his knees with a loud crash.

"Think next time before you mess with a lady", Sonya told him as he was still groaning in pain.

She wasn't finished because she then saw the personal computer monitor that Scott's first attacker had dropped near her. She picked it up, raised it over her head and screamed as she smashed the monitor over Blud's face.

Her opponent dropped on his side without a sound as he had fallen unconscious after his face shattered the monitor screen. Seeing that, Sonya walked over to Scott to see how he was doing. She was pleased to see that he was able to stand and walk by himself.

"Let's get outta here", Sonya told him as she looked over to the store employee that she had ushered behind her.

"Are _you_ OK?", she asked him.

"I'm alive", the employee groaned as he headed outside.

Sonya and Scott decided to follow him as they headed for the door while they watched each other's back. They wanted to make sure that Scott's three original attackers didn't get any more ideas. But the three men were too busy trying to wake Blud back up to give them any notice. One of the three turned around in a rage to face them as they were almost through the dooway.

"You brute!!!", he screamed, "You knocked him out!!".

Sonya didn't even seem to notice that the man's face was red with anger. Despite his feelings, the man made sure he stayed put and didn't attack because he knew he didn't have a chance if Blud had failed. While exiting the store, Sonya and Scott didn't have to open the door because it wasn't there any more. Scott went through the opening and Sonya followed and then stepped over the man who had burst the doorway open.

Once outside the store, they both caught sight of Johnny because he had just made his way through the crowd.

"What happened here?", he asked with his sunglasses still on when he finally reached them.

"That's what _I'd_ like to know", Sonya told him as the employee who had preceded them outside was still groaning.

"What did they want?", Scott asked him.

"Jesus Christ", the employee answered, still shaken up, "They come in there and tell me they wanna put up a sign on the front door about some meeting of theirs. We aren't allowed to advertise or solicit here, I told them that. That's our rule, there's even a sign that says that on the door".

He pointed for the shattered glass door with his hand and everybody followed his direction before they all remembered the door was gone.

"Well", the employee went on, "At least the sign _was_ there".

Just then, a man who was about Herman Blade's age hurried towards them by squeezing through the crowd. He then saw the man in jungle camouflage still lying in front of the glass door as Blud and the three other militants exited the store the same way as those before them.

"What's the meaning of this?!", the man directly addressed the four militants.

"I'm sorry,Mr. Kline", Blud announced out loud as he was holding his left palm pressed on his cheek.

The three other militants were helping the bony comrade who had just woken up in front of the door to his feet. That one groaned in pain and held his back, but Kline didn't ask anyone for a doctor or an ambulance.

"We'll take care of him ourselves", he told his other men as they had to hold on to the injured militant to keep him standing, "But he aien't having to go to some goddamn place in the city".

Before anyone among the crowd could protest that his decision wasn't wise, Kline motioned the five militants to follow him, which they did without a sound. The thin militant who had flown through the glass was conscious and thus knew that he wasn't being taken to a hospital, but he didn't complain either. Thus, the five men followed Kline as the crowd scattered a bit to let them through. As they passed by Sonya or Scott, none of the five men even looked at them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back home, around 11:00 PM, Sonya had told her father about the incident as soon as she, Scott and Johnny had walked through the door. Johnny had to leave to prepare himself for the next day's movie, but he was willing to stand around for a few more minutes. He wanted to find out about the men who had dared to engage his friends in a fight.

"Kline?", Herman Blade repeated after Sonya was done telling him the whole story, "You're sure that's what the guy called him?".

"Yeah, I'm positive", Sonya answered, still curious.

"Everybody in the military who's over 50 knows that name", her father went on, "Kline has been an anti-government militant for the last few decades. He hates anything and everything the government does or stands for".

"Isn't that funny?", Scott grinned sarcastically, "If they hate the government, then why are they wearing _our_ military outfits?".

"You have to ask _him_ that, I guess", Sonya's father told him, realizing he made a good point, "Well, a couple of years ago, his only son was killed in a drive-by shooting. And that made him far angrier, I think, because the kid was murdered by one of the automatic weapons that the House of Representatives had just decided to put back on the streets...His combination of anger _and_ his access to weapons definitely makes this guy dangerous. He's suspected to be behind several robberies of banks and gun shops, but we're still waiting for the solid evidence to build up to put him away. He lives at an open rural area a couple of miles from here where he trains his people".

"Huh", was the only response the three people he was talking to could think of.

"What was this guy doing at the mall?", Herman Blade was curious too.

"The employee who was getting hammered said they wanted to put a flyer up for a meeting they were about to have", Johnny told him.

That was all they had to say on the subject, so they decided to end the long day at that instant as Johnny first mentioned that he was tired and needed some rest for tomorrow.

"You _will _come back tomorrow when you're done, right?", Sonya smiled at him, already having put the mall incident behind.

"Definitely", was his reply as he took his sunglasses off for the first time.

He put his left arm around her shoulder as she wrapped her right arm around his lower back in response.

"It was great to see you", he said before he extended his right hand to Scott, "Scott, it's been a pleasure. Hopefully next time I'll be there to help you kick ass so you won't steal the entire spotlight".

"Oh, right", Scott smiled as they shook hands before Johnny did the same with Sonya's father.

"You need a ride to the hotel, by the way?", Herman Blade asked as he let go of Johnny's hand.

"Nah! That's OK", Johnny told him, "I'll take a cab. It aien't that far".

"You're sure".

"Definitely".

With that, Johnny left, Scott crashed down on the couch with his back still complaining after being slammed by Blud and Sonya headed for her old room, which her father hadn't changed one bit since she had moved out. He had somewhat always known she'd be back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, all three occupants were awake and alert by noon. Scott was still wondering why Sonya hadn't told her father about Kano. She still hadn't after getting something to eat. Sonya was dressed in her usual shorts and T-shirt while Scott decided to put on his black pants and tank top that had accompanied him from Hong Kong.

"Daddy? I wanna go out and visit some of the old places I used to know before I left, OK?", she told her father innocently enough, "Why don't you come along, Scott?".

"That'd be fine", he answered.

As they exited her home, she headed straight for the car that was parked by the curb. She already had the keys, so she opened the driver's door after unlocking it. She then tossed the keys to Scott who was standing by the front passenger side so he could use them also. After they both got inside and closed the door, Scott handed her the keys back and she started the car.

"So where're we going?", an interested Scott asked out loud, "Which places do you wanna see?".

"None of 'em", Sonya answered by locking eyes with him, "I wanna go see Kline".

"WHAT?!?", Scott snapped, feeling surprised.

"Daddy said he lived in a rural area a couple of miles from here where he trained his goons", she went on, "I can think of only _one_ place within such a radius that fits that description".

"Why do you wanna see _him_ of all people?", Scott was still uneasy about the idea, especially after his encounter with Blud.

"Come oooon! It'll be fun!!", Sonya smiled, "We could go there, see how the losers in society spend their time and maybe even kick some ass if they try anything".

Scott wasn't smiling back.

"What would you _rather_ do?", she looked at him through a pair of bright eyes, "You wanna stay here and watch TV? Trust me, there's nothing on. Besides, we're the military, you and me. We can't put up with his kind of an attitude".

"Oh! And who the hell put _us_ in charge?", Scott countered.

"We did!!", Sonya was all smiles as she pointed to herself.

"Oh allright!! But I still don't like the idea!", Scott cautiously gave up.

Sonya drove for about twenty minutes with her eyes scanning the entire scenery before deciding she found place she was looking for.

"This_ might_ be it", she told Scott as she parked the car on the side of the street near a rural location.

As they both exited the vehicle, Scott kept being cautious.

"This is our last chance to pull back, Sonya", he warned her, although she had her mind made already.

Even though the area was surrounded by a fence and barbed wire, the front entrance gate was wide open. Sonya walked right in and Scott followed to make sure she wasn't in over her head. They got about fifty yards before they were approached by a man who was dressed in jungle camouflage, so they knew they had found the right place. The man they were facing was even younger than they were.

"Earthling, may we speak with your leader?", Sonya smiled as she mimicked a space alien.

"Follow me", the young man in the military outfit smiled back, feeling amused.

They followed him for about a hundred more yards past other men in military outfits who were busy in exercise drills before reaching a private office. The young man knocked on the door before hearing "Yeah?" from inside.

"Mr. Kline?", the man answered, "There are two people here to see you".

"Come on in", Kline answered from the other end of the door.

The young man opened the door from outside and held it open for Sonya as he motioned her inside with his free hand.

"Oh, thank you", Sonya smiled at him as she entered the room and Scott followed.

As soon as Kline saw the two of them, he stood up from behind the desk where he was seated as the young man followed them inside and closed the door.

"How did you get here?!", Kline demanded, "How did you find me?".

"We're good at what we do", Sonya answered by crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"You just _let_ them in here?!?!", Kline next snapped at the young man behind them.

"Relax!!", Sonya countered, "He didn't_ let_ us do anything. The front gate was wide open, we just walked in".

"The front gate was wide open...", Kline repeated before he looked at the young man again, "Who the _hell_ was the last guy who used it?... What's the point of having barbed wire around the entire place if the front gate is gonna be left _open_??!!".

"I'll find out sir!", the young man rushed out of the officer feeling scared.

"You have got to do something about your demeanor, Kline", Sonya commented even though Kline was not interested in her opinion.

"What do you two want? You came by to tell me you're suing after last night's incident at the mall?", he asked as he sat back down.

"No", Sonya took a step closer towards his desk, "We were just curious about why you do what you do. Nothing more... And we wanted to see if your training was better than ours".

"Why? You're in the military too?", Kline asked.

"Uhuh", Sonya nodded.

"Yeah right!", Kline didn't believe her.

"Trust me, she is", Scott spoke for the first time, "At least _was_".

"Oh? What happened?", Kline was getting more curious himself.

"I disobeyed a politician", Sonya plainly told him.

"Really?", Kline grinned, "Now _that_ I can believe!".

"I'm sorry about what happened to your son", Sonya told him as she let her arms back down by her sides, "I _really_ am".

"Yeah, well", Kline answered as if the death didn't mean anything to him, "It won't matter real soon".

"What are you talking about?", Sonya was getting an eerie feeling about his tone of voice.

"Do you two want to join my organization?", Kline didn't answer her question.

"Well, I don't _think_ so", Sonya responded.

"Then get the hell out!", Kline motioned for the door with his head, "That bill the House passed was enough of an insult. I don't need to put up with this bullshit from anyone else".

He had probably meant the bill that tried to legalize the kind of automatic weapon his son was killed with, Sonya reasoned.

"Mr. Kline", she approached his desk and then leaned on it looking at him, "I find it curious that you are showing almost no emotion with regard to your son's death. Why is that? You're not _planning _anything, are you?".

Sonya knew that a troubled mind looks extremely calm when it decides to die, and death does not usually come to the person alone. It was clear from Kline's facial expression that Sonya had read him like a book. She could see that he was planning something big that would avenge his son's death and also be the biggest news for a long time.

"Don't do anything stupid, Mr. Kline", Sonya locked eyes with him.

"What I do with my own time is my business", Kline was angered by her last statement, "Even if you two loons _knew_ what I was doing, which you don't, you couldn't stop me... Now get lost!".

But Sonya didn't leave. In fact, she kept on lecturing him.

"What're you thinking?", she remained leaning towards him on the desk, "You figure you're gonna go to some public place with an automatic and blow away as many people as you can? Is that gonna make you _feel_ better? If you do, that's gonna be your son's memory. Years from now, people are only gonna remember him for causing a major terrorist act. His name will by synonymous with Lee Harvey Oswald. Is that what you want?".

The reason she wanted to change his mind was because Kline reminded her of herself. She could understand how someone could have so much anger towards society that he or she would end up harming total strangers because of it. Sonya was actually afraid that if Kline committed such an act, then so might anyone else in the future, including herself. After all, she reasoned, Kline wasn't born that way, he was made.

"Are you finished?", Kline then asked her, unimpressed.

"Yeah", she answered as she pulled back from the desk and stood at her full height.

"Then you know the way to the door", Kline went on.

"Come on, Scott. We're out of here", she headed for the door realizing there was some imminent danger to the country's capital.

She left the office followed by Scott, who was extremely glad to be out of there. Once outside, they ran into the young man who had opened the door for them as he was returning to Kline's office. He politely greeted them both before proceeding for the office door, but Sonya grabbed a hold of his arm as he passed her.

"Let me ask you something", Sonya wanted to satisfy her curiosity, "You seem nice enough. And I _don't_ think it's an act. So why are _you_ here with these guys?".

"That's a pretty long story", the young man answered as he faced them both.

"We have a while", Scott took the words out of Sonya's mouth, "Why don't you give us a summary".

"Why should I do _that_?", the young man asked him.

"Because we want to know. And we're the Army Special Forces", Scott countered.

It seemed like the young man didn't feel comfortable with the idea of telling his life story to a pair of strangers, so Sonya thought it wise to introduce themselves.

"I'm Sonya", she told him before she pointed to Scott, "And this is Scott".

"I'm Rick", the young man told them, "Special Forces, huh?"

"That's right", Sonya went on, "So, Rick. What's on your mind?".

"Look", Rick told them both, "I used to be married, with a kid of my own. I worked in a factory to make parts for Cobra helicopters ever since I got out of high school. I was a damn good worker, too. I never stole anything and I always did my best whenever they assigned me a job... Hey, I had to. I was married right after high school because my girlfriend got pregnant, so I _had_ to provide for 'em. But after several years, they just shut the goddamn place down because some pig wants to make more profits than he already is by giving some contract to someone else".

"Oh", was the only thing Sonya could say.

"Do you know what it's like to not be able to provide for your family?", Rick asked them both, "It's the worst feeling in the world! It's like them telling you that you're worthless! My wife left five months ago because she couldn't take it any more... She wanted to find someone who could provide for her. Not that I can blame her... I haven't seen her or my kid since then. These guys have _become_ my family since then, they took me in".

"I'm sorry", Sonya could see the pain in his face.

"Don't be", Rick countered, "I don't want pity. _Nobody_ does... Look, I appreciate you two listening, but I gotta job to do here withMr. Kline. I better not be late".

"Listen, if you ever wanna talk, you _can _reach us", Sonya wanted to hold him long enough to tell him that, "I don't suppose you have a pen on you".

"No", Rick answered.

"_I _do", Scott brought one out from his pants pocket and handed it to her.

After accepting the pen from Scott, Sonya saw a leaf on the ground near their feet. Without either men knowing what she was doing, she bent down to pick it up. Upon being back up to her full height, she wrote her home phone number on one side of leaf and handed it to Rick.

"That's where you can find me", she told him, "Ask for Sonya".

"Thanks, but I doubt I'll call", Rick took the leaf from her, turned around and marched towards Kline's office.

Sonya and Scott then proceeded towards the car. As they were nearing the gate, they could see that they were not getting stares from the people in the camp. That was probably because the militants were used to having potential recruits walk in and out in civilian clothes, Sonya reasoned. Upon reaching the gate, they realized that it was still wide open, so they used it to return to the car. After unlocking both doors, Scott settled down on the front passenger seat like before.

"I'm glad _that's_ over", he commented to her as he stared out the windshield towards the camp.

"I feel bad for that kid Rick", Sonya told both him and herself as she started the car to drive away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When they reached home, Sonya's father told her that Johnny had just called a few minutes ago.

"He was wondering if you guys were in because he said they had stopped filming for an hour or so because of some electrical problem", he told them, "I told him I didn't know when you'd be in but that he could come by if he wanted. He said 'Yes', so he's on his way".

"Maybe we can discuss the art of politics when he gets here", Sonya told him.

"What?", her father was confused.

"Nah. Nothing", she wanted to drop the subject.

"Well, have fun kids", her father announced as he walked towards the door, "Because I have a meeting that I should get to. So if you decide to leave, take a key along, OK?".

"OK, daddy", Sonya told him as he headed out the door.

After her father was gone, Scott figured out this was as good a time as any to inquire about her experiences for the last few days.

"OK", he exhaled and put both his palms together in front of his chin, "Do you wanna tell me what happened now?".

"You really don't quit, do you?", she asked him, not surprised that he wanted to know.

"No", he answered, "And why aren't you telling your father about it?".

Sonya sat down on a couch and stayed quiet for several heartbeats without answering as she stared in front of her.

"If you don't tell me, I'll just ask Johnny", Scott defiantly smiled.

"Why don't you do that?", she rubbed her face with her hands.

"I want to hear it from you!", he protested.

"OK", she figured he earned the right to know, "Now, everything I'm telling you is the honest truth. I would bet my life on it, OK? So nothing's a joke. And......".

She stopped without finishing her sentence.

"What?", Scott stopped smiling as she sighed.

"You_ have_ to promise not to tell _anybody_ about what I'm telling you", she continued.

"I can do that", Scott told her.

"When I got on the boat, it belonged to a sorcerer. This guy, his name was Shang Tsung, and he wanted to take over the earth", she had a small smile on her face, "Another thing he wanted was _me_... Not that I wasn't flattered, but _this_ guy was a _creep_... See, there are many other realms other than our world, and Shang Tsung could apparently take over these realms by winning ten tournaments in a row. The Mortal Kombat tournament was available only once every generation and Shang's men had already won nine. In other words, if Johnny and I lost this fight, our world was fucked. One of Shang Tsung's men was called Sub-zero and he could freeze anybody he wanted to from several yards away".

Sonya had an emotionless face as she was recounting the story.

"Before the major fight began, I saw him freeze a guy and then smash him to pieces just to demonstrate his power", she sighed again, "Another guy who worked for Shang Tsung was Scorpion. This guy had a live harpoon coming out of his hand that tried to bite his opponent during a fight. Shang himself was a warrior who could steal the souls of anybody who was defeated in the tournament if he wanted to... That was no joke either because I actually _saw_ him doing it. That practice had kept him alive for God knows how many centuries".

Sonya's mood was getting more grim as she kept on describing all the different characters she ran into during the tournament.

"And of course, there was Goro...", she stopped after mentioning his name.

"And who was he?", Scott asked even though he could see the recollection was affecting her. His curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"Goro was Shang Tsung's Mortal Kombat champion", Sonya told him, "He was by far the meanest son of a bitch I had ever seen, and knowing Kano and Benson, that says a _lot_... Kano was there too and he and I duked it out as one of the first fights in the tournament. As you can see,_ I_ got the better of _him_. I actually broke his neck. He was down on his back so desperately trying to get out of my grip, but he couldn't... Only one of us was going to walk out of that fight alive, so I figured it better be me".

"Where exactly was this fight held?", Scott went on as he began believing her for the first time.

"Some of it was on Shang Tsung's island. Wherever this place was, it wasn't on any map and the compasses or radios didn't work when you were near it. That's where the ship took us when I boarded it. The island was somehow of a door between this world and the realm of Outworld because there was a way to walk into _that _world from there".

"_That's_ why you were so sure that nobody would ever find Kano's body!", Scott exclaimed, "Because his body is in this island that can never be found, except by some mystical force once every generation".

"Exactly", Sonya began to smile.

Just then, someone rang on the doorbell. Seeing that Sonya was still seated and looking straight ahead, Scott decided to answer it himself. When he opened the door, he realized that it was Johnny on the other side holding a shoe box.

"What's up, Johnny?", Scott greeted him, "Come on in".

"Hi Scott", Johnny greeted him as he walked in and closed the door behind him with his free hand.

"Johnny!!", Sonya exclaimed while still seated, "You don't have another decapitated head in that shoe box, do you?".

"What?!", Scott's eyes widened at her question.

"Just kidding", Sonya grinned, "Now, that _is _a joke".

"Oh", Scott answered, feeling a bit foolish.

"No, not this time", Johnny answered as he took his sunglasses off with his left hand, "Actually, the box is for you. When did you guys get here? Your father said you weren't in right now ".

He extended the box towards Sonya with his right hand.

"We just got here a minute before you", Sonya let him know.

Surprised and curious, she stood up and walked up to him to accept the box.

"I'm almost afraid to look inside", she kept grinning as she placed her left palm under the box and lifted the top with her right fingers.

Inside the box was a brand-new Glock 9mm pistol, just like the one she had lost aboard the ship.

"Oh my God!!", Sonya exclaimed as she gripped the handle of the pistol and pulled it out the box with her right hand.

"I didn't bother with any rounds since I figured you still had plenty from the old one", Johnny told her as she threw the empty shoe box on the couch.

"Why? What happened to the old one?", Scott pondered.

"Sub-zero froze it as I was pointing it at his head inside the boat", Sonya told him with the grin still on her face.

At the mention of Sub-zero's name, Johnny's head snapped back for a few inches with surprise.

"He_ knows_???", he pointed at Scott.

"Yeah. But Scott's OK", Sonya reassured him, "He won't tell".

Her statement was enough to comfort Johnny's anxiety.

"Sub-zero froze your piece as you were _holding_ it?", Scott was still wondering about what she said.

"That's right", Johnny said while looking at him, "And I know too because I was cowering behind her when it happened".

"No he wasn't!!", Sonya began to laugh.

"She _never_ takes credit for her actions", Johnny smiled as he still stared at Scott and pointed at Sonya.

"Thanks, Johnny!", Sonya was still all smiles, "It'll be great to begin practicing with this again".

"You guys hear the news? I heard it this morning as we were filming", Johnny asked them both at once.

"What?", Scott asked.

"That idiot who we ran into yesterday, Kline", Johnny went on, "He's planning a demonstration this afternoon going into this evening outside the White House. That's probably why his goons were trying to put those pieces of advertisement up yesterday".

"_He_ didn't tell us anything about it", Scott stated to no one in particular.

It took Johnny a few seconds to understand what he meant.

"Why would he tell you guys?", he asked before he realized the significance, "Oh, wait a sec... Tell me you guys didn't see him".

"Actually we did", Sonya nervously smirked.

"_Why_?!", Johnny couldn't understand, "Why did you two do that? Can you tell me?... It _was_ the two of you, wasn't it?".

"Yes, daddy. I didn't go alone", Sonya answered him.

"You shouldn't make _light_ of this, Sonya!", Johnny answered, "There's no saying _what_ this guy is capable of!".

"Well, Johnnyyyy", Sonya protested, "We talked to him! He really didn't seem that scary at all. The press is making him out to be like Shang Tsung or something and he's not! He doesn't have any class or any sacred mission. He's just some guy who feels he can only be heard when he's packing heat. There's _nothing_ scary about him".

"No sacred mission is right", Johnny continued her description, "Unless total anarchy is considered a sacred mission nowadays".

"Change the subject, guys!", Scott interrupted their talk, "I was trying to come up with anything to do today".

"I'm free for another...", Johnny looked at his wristwatch, "Uh... twenty minutes... Then I gotta go back and restart filming. So, you two are alone. I gotta go back to my hotel and meet my make-up man just about now".

"You came by just to drop the piece off?", Sonya questioned.

"Yeah", Johnny put his sunglasses back on, "I figured I was gonna hand it to your father instead".

"He left right before you showed up because _we_ came in", Sonya responded, "Well, thanks a million for the piece!".

"It was a pleasure", Johnny stated as he headed for the door.

As Johnny headed back to his hotel after hailing a cab, Sonya was busy testing the empty gun by aiming it at inanimate objects to see if it felt the same as her old one. She should not have been able to tell the difference and wasn't able to. Just as she was aiming it at the TV set, the phone rang. Scott, who was closer to it, picked it up.

"Hello?".

He waited a few seconds and then handed the phone to her.

"It's for you. It's some guy", Scott said as Sonya put the Glock down on the floor to grip the phone instead.

"Yes?", Sonya spoke into the receiver herself.

"Is this Sonya?", the man on the other end asked.

"That's right", Sonya went on, "Who is _this_?".

"This is Rick! From Kline's camp!", the man whispered out loud.

"Rick? Hi! What's going on?", Sonya was amazed, especially since Rick had told her not to expect him to call.

"I can't stay!", Rick kept on whispering, "Kline's lost it, Sonya! I'm just calling you because you're in the Special Forces and you may do something about it".

"What??", Sonya demanded, getting worried.

"After you left today, Kline went_ nuts_!!!", Rick told her, "He was screaming about how some airhead had dared to lecture him and that pissed him off more than anything I'd had _ever_ seen!".

"Are _you _OK?", Sonya went on, feeling scared for Rick's safety.

"I'm fine. I'm gonna get the hell _outta_ here as soon as I hang up!", Rick was getting more nervous, "Sonya, listen to me... Kline is gonna attack the House of Representatives!! He's got eleven men with him and they're all armed to the teeth. I think he's gonna kill as many people as he can before he blows the place up to kingdom come! He's gotta a bomb too!".

"How do you know about this, Rick?", Sonya asked him, not wanting to be tricked, although she didn't mistrust Rick.

"After you left, he told us about his plans! There was supposed to be a demonstration today, but it's a fake! It's really a hit!", Rick went on, "He told us all to pack up and move because him and eleven of his guys were doing the hit! I aien't gonna stick around, though. As soon as I hang up, I'm getting as far from this place as possible! I never signed a contract to conspire to kill anybody! Bye, Sonya. Thanks for listening".

"Wait Rick!! _Rick_!!!", Sonya yelled into the phone with no avail because Rick had already hung up.

"What's going on?", Scott asked her as she put the phone back down.

He could see from her facial expression that something wasn't right.

"We got a problem!", Sonya told him as she picked her Glock back up, "That was Rick and he says the demonstration by Kline is a fake. Kline is actually gonna attack the House of Representatives".

"Oooooooooooh!!!", Scott sarcastically looked impressed and a lot less scared than Sonya.

"We _have _to stop him", Sonya insisted, surprised at his attitude, "And I don't wanna call the police. If Kline is there, then he's there to kill! A single police car going up against his men will get crushed".

"You're getting _really _worked up over this", Scott calmly told her.

"Scott, we _have_ to stop them!", Sonya shot back.

"Why? He's gonna wipe out a bunch of politicians", Scott countered, "Is that so bad?".

He wasn't being sarcastic or speaking out of anger. He was serious.

"How can you _say_ that, Scott?", she was getting more fired up every second.

"Come on!", Scott defended his view as he held his right index finger in front of his hand, "Give me _one_ good reason why we should risk our lives for them!!!".

Sonya was speechless. For about thirty seconds, she desperately tried to come up with a good reason while she and Scott had locked eyes... She finally came up with a response after he had patiently waited.

"Well!", she hoped what she said didn't sound stupid, "Our system of government keeps us from anarchy!".

"Some asshole who makes a six figure salary to give everybody lip service keeps us from anarchy? No! Politicians _don't _keep us from anarchy, Sonya!", Scott barked back, "People like_ us_ do!".

"Allright, allright!", Sonya conceded defeat in that point, "What if... What if there's somebody near the House of Representatives when Kline and his men attack? This person will try to get involved after seeing the attack and he'll get killed! We have to intervene for _that_ person if for no one else!".

Her argument seemed to win Scott over and he finally agreed to come with her. He reached under the couch where he'd slept the previous night and retrieved an already loaded Beretta 92F. Sonya had no idea how he brought the pistol with him through the airport, but she couldn't think about it at the present time. As Scott checked to make sure his clip was full, Sonya dropped her empty pistol and rushed to her room.

"I have to get some clips for the new Glock!", she told him as she ran there, "And I have another gun too!"....

She came out a few seconds later with a clip for the Glock in her left hand and a shiny revolver with a six-inch barrel in her right.

"It's a 357", Sonya told him as she put the revolver down and loaded the Glock.

"Wadda you need a second one for?", Scott asked.

"Can't hurt to have a back-up", she told him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With that out of the way, Scott and Sonya ran for the car after she grabbed the keys to it. The vehicle was still exactly where they had left it. Thankfully, Sonya told herself, her father hadn't taken it...

They were in it and racing towards the House of Representatives with Sonya in the driver's seat in a matter of seconds. As Sonya sped towards the destination, she realized which direction they were headed. After driving for a couple of minutes, she quickly turned her face to the right to take a look at Scott.

"Scott, we're passing by Johnny's hotel", she informed him, "Should we stop to get him?".

"Is it wise? Can he handle himself?", Scott wasn't sure of the idea of having Johnny walk in the middle of a gun battle.

As they drove by the front of the hotel, Sonya pressed on the brakes because she caught a glimpse of Johnny outside the front door. The actor was still wearing his sunglasses and eating an ice cream cone.

"JOHNNY!!", Sonya yelled after her face was out of the driver's side window, "GET IN THE CAR!!".

"Hey guys!", Johnny waved as he smiled, "I can't come along. I'm on my way to the studio now. I'm waiting for my guy because filming starts in ten minutes".

"JUST GET IN THE CAR!!!", Sonya yelled back, "SOMETHING'S WRONG!! WE'LL EXPLAIN IT ON THE WAY!!".

Johnny realized from her tone of voice that something had indeed gone seriously wrong. Not knowing what to do with the ice cream cone, he just dropped it on the pavement and ran for the car. Sonya reached back and unlocked the left back door a few seconds before Johnny opened it, jumped in and then closed it behind him. As soon as he closed the door, Sonya stepped on the accelerator again.

"What's going on?", Johnny asked, expecting bad news.

"We have information saying Kline's gonna attack the House of Representatives", Scott told him without looking back.

Knowing he shouldn't go into battle unarmed, Scott gripped Sonya's .357 revolver and handed it to Johnny.

"Is it loaded?", he asked Sonya about the revolver.

"It's loaded", she answered.

"Oh, guys!", Johnny protested, "I don't _need _a gun. I never did".

"This is no time to be stupid!", Scott protested as he turned around in his seat to look at him, "Take the gun!".

"I'm serious, Scott!", Johnny still refused it, "I never needed it! _You_ guys should keep it".

"Don't argue, Scott!", Sonya ordered him as her face was becoming more tense the closer they got to their destination, "If Rick was telling the truth, then we're gonna be facing twelve guys in there... Make sure you stay together guys, we can't afford to separate. People usually get hurt when they're alone".

"I hear you", Scott was bracing himself for the showdown.

"Gotcha", Johnny echoed him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kline, in the meantime, was behind the wheel of a van as he and his eleven men raced for the building where the members of the House of Representatives were meeting.

"Now remember", he instructed his men one last time, "You separate into three groups of three each. Blud and Techno, you two come with me... After six minutes in there, the three groups get the hell out of there fast.... Any questions?".

No one answered. They all knew that Techno was the nickname for the militant who was their explosives expert. Kline wanted to take him and Blud along because he planned to wire the place up with as much C4 as possible. Blud was a bodyguard and Techno was the brain behind setting up the explosives correctly. As he and his two men were busy with that task, his other nine men would separate into three groups and cause havoc in order to divert everyone's attention from their boss. Each of the twelve men in the van, except for Techno, had an AK-47 and was dressed in jungle camouflage. Some of them even had hand grenades in case they felt like having some extra fun.

Kline sped faster than the legal limit as his van approached the building. He told his men to brace for impact as he drove the van into the door. The van crashed through the door with a loud explosion and then stopped. All the militants inside promptly exited from the rear of the van, except for Kline who used the driver side door. They saw they were at the beginning of a hallway....

Patrolman Boyle happened to be inside the building just watching the ceiling and feeling bored when he heard the noise. Knowing that something was wrong, he instantly withdrew his Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol and proceeded towards the origin of the noise. He was finally doing something other than filling out endless pieces of paper for a living, he told himself as he kept running to see what was going on.

After about thirty seconds, officer Boyle reached the opposite end of the hallway and caught sight of a dozen men in military outfits as they loaded their AK-47s. Boyle was usually very careful, but this time, the excitement got the better of him. He exposed himself without taking cover behind the wall that led to the hallway. Instead, he stood in the middle of his end of the hallway, which was about thirty feet from the militants, and he aimed his handgun at one of them.

"FREEZE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!", Boyle yelled out as the militants had just realized they had company.

Kline wasn't about to let a police officer get in his way and his men knew it. Three of the militants smoothly aimed their AK-47s at Boyle and opened fire. Boyle was hit in the right thigh as well as the chest. He yelled out and pulled the trigger of his Smith & Wesson several times as he fell on his back. One of his rounds hit the militant he had aimed for in the left shoulder as that one screamed in his own turn and dropped on the floor in pain.

After seeing that Boyle was hit, Kline and his men tried to see the extent of the damage the officer's bullet had created.

"I'm fine!!!", the wounded militant protested, "I can go ahead as planned".

"I know", Kline answered him, "You're very brave".

One of the other militants quickly tried to patch up his comrade's shoulder after he was handed a first aid kit from inside the van. Within two minutes, the wounded militant was hissing with pain as he gripped his AK-47 to go on with the offensive as planned. The militants then ran towards the end of the hallway and officer Boyle's body in order to begin their killing spree. Upon reaching Boyle, one of the militants looked down at him, wondering whether he was still alive.

"Should we shoot him some more?", he asked Kline.

"Come on! Nobody could've taken so many hits and lived! We're wasting time!", another militant reasoned with him.

"He's right", Kline told the first man, "But so what?".

With that, Kline aimed at officer Boyle's chest and fired a single round from his weapon. Officer Boyle didn't seem to react at all, so his lack of response told the militants that he was dead. Thus, all twelve men ran towards the politicians they had come to hate. As they disappeared, though, officer Boyle opened his eyes and grunted with pain. He knew he was bleeding profusely from the wound in his thigh and tried to stop the flow of blood.

"Next time check to see if I'm wearing a vest, asshole!", he commented to whomever had shot him last.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya, in the meantime, drove towards the building. Seeing the rear of the van among the pieces of the door and the wall, she knew they were at the right place. She stepped on the brakes and the car came to an uneasy halt. As soon as the vehicle had stopped, she, Scott and Johnny opened their separate door and exited. While they began to rush for the van, though, Sonya heard a voice that was apparently talking to her.

"Give me your purse, bitch".

She was surprised since she couldn't even remember the last time she had carried a purse. She turned to her left, from where the voice had come from, and saw a teenager with green hair coming towards her from feet away as he held a switchblade knife in his right hand.

"Come on!!! Hand it over!", the teenager ordered as he stopped five feet away.

Apparently, it didn't seem strange to him that Sonya was only carrying a handgun in each hand. Scott and Johnny were as puzzled as she was as they stopped to stare at someone who was clearly stupid.

"Go back to school", Sonya commented to her teenage mugger right before kicking at his right hand.

The teenager screamed as the knife flew out of his hand. The next thing he felt was Sonya's foot going straight into his stomach as she twisted around and kicked him there. The second kick was enough to land her mugger on the ground in pain as Sonya then turned away and proceeded towards her original target. As Scott passed by the mugger, he made sure to kick him in the stomach for a second time.

"Moron", Scott called him as he screamed out again.

All three then reached the hole the van had created. Seeing nobody near it, they then ran towards the opposite end of the hallway where they caught glimpse of somebody still on the ground, though conscious. Upon reaching him, they realized that it was a police officer who was trying to stop the bleeding in his leg by wrapping his shirt around the wound.

"Hang on officer", Scott told him, "We're the good guys".

He squatted next to him and tightened the makeshift tourniquet on Boyle's thigh as Boyle groaned louder in pain.

"We should get him outta here", Scott looked up to Sonya and Johnny.

"I'll be fine!", Boyle told him, "Just stop those sons of bitches! I already used my radio and told them I've been shot, so every cop and ambulance in the city is gonna be here in sixty seconds! There were about a dozen of them, all armed with machine guns".

"Gotcha", Scott told him as he stood back up gripping his Beretta, "You're sure you'll be OK?".

"Yeah, yeah!", Boyle hissed air into his mouth, "Take my piece too if you want. It's over there. It still has about ten rounds or so in it".

Boyle pointed towards where his Smith & Wesson had fallen a few away from him. Scott thanked him and picked it up before all three ran after the militants and left the officer behind waiting for the ambulance.

As they quickly went after Kline's men, they were warily going over every detail around them to make sure there weren't any surprises.

"We _are _gonna do this. Right guys?", Scott asked them both, "We can _win_!".

He was trying to encourage both them and himself.

"Hey", Johnny answered, "If Goro can be killed then_ anything_ in this world is possible. Remember that".

"_Can_ Goro be killed?", Scott asked without looking at him.

"Yeah", Johnny said, "I killed him".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At that time, Kline and his men reached the floor where a congressman was giving a speech while a few dozen others were listening. The listeners were seated in seats that were screwed to the floor and each row was raised at a 45 degree angle above the one below it.

"We're here!", Kline announced a split second before he shot the congressman who had the floor.

Panic gripped the remaining congressmen as they tried to scramble out.

"Blud and Techno, you're with me", Kline ordered as he proceeded towards what he considered to be the weakest point of the infrastructure.

He also ordered the first group of three men to go in one direction and the second group to go in another in order to find more victims. This was going on as the third group of three militants was shooting through seats in order to hit the retreating politicians, without much success

As nine of the militants went along with their assigned duties, the three remaining stayed behind and kept firing as they stood in a line shoulder to shoulder. They found two congressmen who were trying to retreat and summarily butchered them while cheering. They then caught sight of a lone congressman who was still among the seats.

"Go for his head!", the middle of the three militants told the other two just for fun.

The three men concentrated their AK-47 fire on that one person as they kept trying to aim for his head. The congressman's head exploded as the rest of his body was pierced by bullets and he fell down on the seats. After that bit, it didn't seem like there were any more potential victims left. One of the three militants decided to unclip a grenade from his belt. After pulling off the pin with his teeth, the militant threw the grenade into the seats where he thought people were still hiding. Within a few seconds, the grenade exploded and two congressmen flew several feet into the air. One of them didn't move as they landed on the floor, but the second was screaming as his clothes caught fire. Even though they were enjoying the sight of the man trying to get rid of the flames, the militants knew they had to proceed with the plan. So all three emptied their first AK-47 clip into the second man and that one dropped without any more sounds.

"Hey, tough guy!", the militant who had thrown the grenade heard someone call from behind him.

All three militants turned around at the same time to see Sonya standing twenty feet away with Scott at her right and Johnny at her left. Sonya and Scott were aiming two handguns each at them. She had the Glock in her left hand and the 357 revolver in her right while Scott had the Beretta in his left and the Smith & Wesson in his right. "From how you fired at him", Sonya told the militants regarding the congressman who was set on fire, "I would say that your weapons are empty".

The militants were surprised to see this kind of resistance since they believed they had the element of surprise. They also knew they were at their opponents' mercy but weren't about to beg. Sonya knew it wouldn't have done them any good even if they did.

"Wadda we do?", Scott asked her.

"Well, we have a choice", Sonya answered, "We can waste 'em or.... We can take them into custody, thus forgetting about the other nine".

As she finished saying that, Sonya and Scott locked eyes for a second. Each could read what was on the other's mind.

"Waste 'em!", they both said at the same time as looked back at the militants.

That was the last thing the first three militants heard because Sonya alone opened fire with her .357 revolver. She evenly put two rounds into each militant's chest as they screamed out and dropped on the floor in a pool of blood. Knowing the revolver was empty, Sonya then let it go and it too dropped on the floor.

Gripping the handle of the Glock with both hands now, she scanned the area to make sure no other militants were around as Scott approached the three she had just killed.

"Look at this", Scott told them while looking down at the bodies, "_This_ one's got a grenade belt".

While Sonya was still scanning the place, Johnny checked to see if any of the shot congressmen still had a pulse. None did as Scott put the Beretta on the floor, reached into the militant's bloody corpse and pulled one of the grenades out. He figured it might come in handy later , so he placed it into one of his pockets. As he was doing that, someone emerged from behind a seat that was near him and began to swing a chair leg at his face.

Scott instinctively aimed the muzzle of the Smith & Wesson he was still holding at his potential attacker's face. Sonya had done the same from twenty feet away when she heard the noise. The attacker wasn't a militant, though. It was a nervous congressman. They both realized it and held their fire. The congressman, in his turn, realized Scott wasn't dressed in jungle camouflage and thus didn't swing the chair leg all the way.

"What the hell's going on here?", the congressman asked, clearly afraid.

"We got a crazy on the loose", Scott calmly told him as he lowered the Smith & Wesson, "He's hunting you guys with the same weapons you voted to put back in the streets".

The congressman then emerged completely and climbed over the seat he was hiding behind.

"Well, that's fine!", the congressman answered Scott, "But why is he coming after _me_? I voted to_ ban_ those weapons!".

With that, the congressman shakily walked past him, then Sonya and Johnny and proceeded to run outside. Still standing over the three bodies, Scott watched him disappear and told himself that Sonya was right when she wanted to stop the militants.

After the initial encounter, Sonya, Scott and Johnny advanced to the main hallway that was attached to the present section.

"You're sure you don't want the Smith & Wesson, Johnny?", Scott offered it to him one more time because he held both it and his Beretta.

"I'm fine", Johnny answered as he was wiping the congressmen's blood off his hands by rubbing his hands on his shirt.

Johnny still hadn't taken his sunglasses off as all three came upon an intersection. Another hallway cut across the one they were following at a 90 degree angle even though their hallway still continued on for another forty feet.

"Which way do we go?", Scott asked out loud even though all three of them were thinking the question.

His question was answered when all six militants who had separated into groups 2 and 3 appeared at the end of their hallway. They had been warned when they heard Sonya's revolver firing because they knew none of their comrades carried anything other than the AK-47s. From forty feet away, the six militants opened fire.

Scott pushed Sonya into the hallway on the left and Johnny jumped into the hallway on the right a split second before the wall around them was chewed up by gunfire. After Sonya slammed into the ground under Scott's weight, they both stood up and saw Johnny across the hall several feet away. He faced them too. All three knew they couldn't get to each other and also that the militants would be coming after them.

"Run, guys! Get outta here!", Johnny signaled them back with his hands before he turned around and ran towards the end of his hallway.

"Come on!", Scott told her as he turned around to do the same.

But Sonya was momentarily frozen as she stared at Johnny running away from them. Seeing it, Scott dropped the Smith & Wesson and gripped her free hand.

"Come on, Sonya!!", he exclaimed with more force as he ran and pulled her behind him.

The jolt woke Sonya up.

"OK, OK!", she pulled her hand free after they had gotten ten feet into their hallway, "I'm awake, you can let go".

Within a few seconds, the six militants reached the intersection and decided to separate into the two groups that Kline had assigned them to. Three of them chased after Johnny and the other three chased after Sonya and Scott.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya and Scott ran as fast as they could as they turned around the many twists the hallway contained. They didn't want to stop at any of the doors they came upon because they knew some of the militants were right behind them. They reached the end of the hallway and abruptly stopped. They found themselves staring at a large conference room that was filled with tables, chairs and clean filing cabinets. The good news was that there were many items to take cover behind. The bad news was there was nowhere else to go for a retreat. One side was going to die in the room.

"Let's take cover behind the cabinets", Sonya said exactly what Scott was thinking.

Sonya ducked behind a silver-colored cabinet that about five feet tall and Scott did the same with another cabinet. There, they anxiously waited for their opponents to show themselves at the open doorway since their footsteps could be heard.

The militants didn't waste any time to arrive. The first of the three rushed inside the conference room not knowing that it was the end of the trail. He thought Sonya and Scott had run somewhere beyond the room. That was his first and last mistake, Sonya thought to herself as she and Scott leveled their handgun at him. Sonya fired four times and Scott three times in rapid succession. All seven rounds found their mark in the militant's chest and his rush forward was stopped cold because he screamed and fell flat on his stomach. He was still moving and gasping for breath when his two comrades realized what happened and took cover on either side of the doorway.

At first, both militants fired their AK-47 aimlessly into the room since they didn't see their opponents. They had their head and arms in the doorway and the rest of their body was behind the wall. Sonya fired aiming for the head three times and missed. Realizing where she was, both militants concentrated their fire on the filing cabinet she was crouching behind. Sonya completely hid behind the cabinet and clinched her eyes shut as bullets tore into its front. Whatever was inside the cabinet was keeping the bullets from reaching her, and she was grateful for it. As both militants were still aiming at her and firing, they forgot all about Scott. Taking advantage of his opportunity, Scott took careful aim at the militant on the right side of the doorway. He pulled the trigger of the Beretta once and the militant's head exploded. The second dead militant dropped without a sound behind the wall next to the doorway as his comrade's clothes were stained with his blood.

"You son of a bitch!!!", the third militant cried out in a rage.

Seeing where the second source of gunfire had erupted, he realized he had to do something else. Since he had some grenades on his outfit, he grabbed one and bit off the pin before tossing it towards Scott's direction. A startled Scott saw the grenade land on the floor just four feet away from him. He knew it would explode right away, so he had to get out of there, even if that meant walking into the third militant's trap.

Scott leaped out from behind his cabinet just as the grenade exploded. It was exactly what the third militant was waiting for because he had his AK-47 aimed towards that direction. Scott knew it, so he opened fire towards the third adversary. Sonya put him on the receiving end of her gunfire also, but neither one had aimed carefully because they were too surprised by the militant's action. Among the bursts from the Glock and the Beretta, the militant managed to fire back and hit Scott.

Scott screamed out and dropped his handgun as one bullet tore through his stomach and a second through his hip. Sonya saw him go down on the floor with his hand placed on his stomach wound. It only took him a split second to fall on his back, but Sonya felt like she was watching him in slow motion. When her partner's head finally impacted on the floor, she thought she felt his pain herself.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!", she yelled out as rage overcame common sense.

She opened fire because she knew the militant had fired for a sizable amount of time. She then let him shoot back at her until he willingly stopped. That's when she realized that he had to be out of ammunition. Sonya could've rushed over to him a lot faster than he could've reloaded, so she did. She didn't even bother taking the Glock with her. She dropped her handgun on the floor and ran past Scott's body to get to the militant like a lioness who wanted to reach a deer.

The third militant was still holding the new clip in his hand and trying to reload when she reached him and gripped the muzzle of the AK-47. With hatred still burning inside her, she pulled his AK-47 towards her. It was a tug of war for a few seconds until the militant lost his grip on the weapon. Sonya then tossed the machine gun aside because she didn't want to use it.

"Now", she commented as she cracked her knuckles, "The fun begins".

She grabbed him by his collar with her left hand and sent a powerful right hook into his jaw, breaking several teeth. The militant staggered back as he spat out blood because he was shocked at her strength. He wasn't about to let a woman frighten him, though, so he charged back at her thinking he could still beat her.

As he reached her, yelling out loud, Sonya uppercut him with her left fist. His head snapped back and he stared at the ceiling as he heard an explosion in his mind. The uppercut then sent him down on his hands and knees, but Sonya wasn't finished. She bent down, gripped his jaw with her right hand, quickly picked him up to his full height and slammed the back of his head into the wall. The third hit drained most of her opponent's strength out of him, so he sank to the floor while still spitting out more blood.

"Please!", he raised his hands in front of him, "I give up! No more!".

"You give _up_?!?!", Sonya barked back with her eyes on fire, "Who said you _could_???".

While the back of his head was still touching the wall, she punched him in the nose and instantly knew she broke it. Seeing that she wasn't about to stop attacking, the militant realized that his only chance of getting out of the situation alive was to reach for his hunting knife. He knew he was weak and in pain, but he didn't have any other choice because she was clearly planning to beat him to death. He reached for the Buck knife with a ten inch blade that was strapped next to his right calf. He withdrew it and held it in a menacing fashion to hopefully get rid of her. Sonya wasn't planning to walk away, though.

"Come on!", she dared him from five feet away.

The militant rushed ahead and planted the blade into her left shoulder, almost piercing it. She should have been in tremendous pain, but Sonya didn't feel a thing. Instead, she simply pushed him off and he fell on his back. She then gripped the handle of the knife while it was still inside her flesh and pulled it out without even blinking. With the bloody knife in her right hand, Sonya walked towards her terrified adversary.

"Cute toy", she told him as he desperately tried to crawl away from her.

She caught up with him, gripped his collar with her left hand and yanked him up to his feet again before flattening his back against the wall. Before he could say anything, she kneed him between the legs. As he bent over and screamed, she quickly slammed his torso and head against the wall again.

"_This_ is what you used on me, tough guy?", she asked as she showed him his knife.

While the militant was still moaning and trying to recover from her last hit, Sonya inserted the tip of the blade between his lips. She then gently pushed it in further so the blade was inside his mouth.

"Read the holy book, tough guy", she told him as her left shoulder kept bleeding, "Those who live by the sword die by the sword".

Before the militant could resist, she shoved the hunting knife all the way into his mouth with all her strength. The tip of the blade exited right above the back of his neck and entered the wall behind him, thus nailing him to it. Seeing that the militant didn't move after that, Sonya released her left grip on his collar. She finally began to feel the pain in her left shoulder when she pulled the hunting knife out of the militant's mouth. After the militant fell on the floor with his eyes still open, she used the knife to cut the top half of his military outfit in half. She then took the piece of cloth with her as she went back to Scott.

When she returned to the conference room, she saw Scott was still awake, although not able to stand the pain. His hands seemed soaked in blood because he kept pressing them against his stomach.

"Listen, Scott", Sonya knelt next to him, "I'm gonna get you outta here".

"Sonya!", Scott exhaled as he realized she was there, "Get outta here!..... Just leave me!..... Save yourself!".

"No, I can't!", Sonya protested as she began to wrap the last militant's outfit around Scott's stomach to try to lessen the bleeding.

It took her about two minutes to do the best job she could on Scott's wounds. Throughout the entire time, her partner just waved his head back and forth on the floor and hissed. Sonya then ripped a line that was about four inches thick from the bottom of her own T-shirt in order to lessen the loss of blood from her own shoulder. Because she didn't want Scott to be waiting any more than necessary, she did a haphazard job on her wound and was satisfied as soon as she thought she saw the bleeding stop.

"Come on, sidekick", she said next as she lifted Scott's shoulders a few inches off the floor and lowered her upper body towards him at the same time.

"Wadda you doin'?", Scott asked, barely able to talk.

"I'm giving you a ride home", Sonya told him as she loaded his entire body on her shoulders, thus increasing the pain from the knife wound.

"What?!", Scott became louder, "I said _leave_ me here!!!".

"No way", Sonya told him as she proceeded out the door.

Since both her hands were busy holding Scott in place, she couldn't pick up any of the weapons and thus hoped they didn't run into any more of Kline's men.

"You bitch!!!", Scott was letting the pain do all the talking, "Why don't you ever listen to what people _tell_ you?? Put me _down_!! Let me die in peace!!!".

Sonya ignored him as she walked past the bodies of the three militants and staggered back towards where they had come from. She realized for the first time that the hallway was extremely long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Johnny was running down the hallway, he could sense a handful of militants were behind him. The militants weren't firing because they were almost sure they would miss if they pulled the trigger while running. Johnny passed some doors in the hallway but didn't stop to investigate what they were because he was sure they were a dead end. He knew he couldn't afford to have such a confrontation at the present time.

He finally came upon a sharp left turn in the hallway and he took it. He stopped running and flattened his back against the left side of the wall so the militants would arrive at his right. The hallway continued on, but Johnny chose to end the chase right then. He could hear the militants' footsteps approaching fast as he took his sunglasses off and placed them in his pocket.

The three militants had decided not to separate because they reached the turn in the hallway and appeared at his right together. They weren't expecting to see him and thought they would keep rushing by. Johnny grabbed the AK-47 muzzle of the militant closest to him and pulled the weapon out of his hand. Before any of the three realized what happened, Johnny lifted the AK-47 to his left like a baseball bat and swung it into the face of the militant he had taken it from. That one was knocked out without a sound and crashed on the floor on his back. As the second and third militants stopped in their tracks and aimed for him, Johnny punched the next closest militant in the stomach with the muzzle of the first militant's AK-47. While the second militant bent over and screamed, Johnny then saw the third militant levelling his own AK-47 at him. Knowing he only had one chance, Johnny kicked at the man's weapon. His foot hit the AK-47 muzzle from underneath it and the weapon flew out of the militant's hands. It spat out bullets as it hit the ceiling several feet behind them.

Seeing the third militant unarmed, and thus helpless, Johnny punched him with a closed right fist and sent him staggering back. Since he was still holding the first militant's firearm in his left hand, Johnny faced the second militant. That one was still trying to recover from the hit to the stomach and was still bent over gasping for air. Johnny raised his AK-47 over his head as he held it by the muzzle like one would hold an ax. He then sent the gun crashing down on the back of the head of the second militant, knocking him out also. With two down and one more to go, he turned his attention to the last militant who was standing. That one just stood several feet away looking at his opponent and planning in his head.

"Well, come on then!", Johnny dared him.

He was wondering if this one might actually be smart enough to surrender after seeing the kind of damage inflicted on his two comrades. The militant knew if he tried to reach for his own AK-47, which was several feet behind him, that Johnny would be all over him before he could get his hands on it. So he decided he had to attack relying only on his wits.

"Don't let _this _thing scare you", Johnny taunted him as he threw his own AK-47 on the floor.

That move encouraged the militant, so he rushed forward intending to tackle his opponent. But as soon as he got within two feet of Johnny, the actor instantly did a full leg split and punched him between the legs.

"UUUUGGGGGGGGHHH!!", the militant bent down and staggered several steps back with his eyes wide open as Johnny stood back up.

"It may be small, but it still hurts, doesn't it?", Johnny asked the helpless militant as he reached him.

Without saying anything else, he grabbed his opponent by both his ears and raised his right knee. He then brought down the militant's head with all his strength. After the militant's chin impacted with his knee, he was knocked unconscious and fell on his back. Johnny's knee hurt also, but obviously not as much as his opponent's chin. He then looked back down the hallway from where he had come and listened carefully to make sure there were no other followers. Hearing nothing, he put his sunglasses back on and ventured back towards the origin of the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kline had watched Techno place all the C4 in what he considered to be strategic spots. Blud was standing watch over the both of them with his AK-47 at the ready just in case anyone tried to get in their way. Kline was armed in such a way also, but Techno wasn't armed because he was busy with the C4 and the wiring. With all the explosives at the ready, Techno handed the trigger to detonate them to Kline as requested.

"OK, you two", Kline addressed both Blud and Techno as he held the trigger, "You have five minutes to get the hell out of here. After that, you better not be in this building".

Both Techno and Blud realized that their boss meant to blow himself up along with everything else, but they knew they weren't to argue with him.

"Who's to lead us then?", Techno asked him.

"Blud is in charge", Kline answered as he looked up at the muscular militant, "You two have been through a lot with me, but it's time for me to step down to let some young blood take over. It's been an honor to serve with you two... Here".

Kline handed his own AK-47 to Techno and that one strapped it to his back because he considered the battle to be over. The last comment was Kline's hint for them to leave him so he could begin to time them by using his wristwatch as he held the trigger with his free hand. Blud ran in one direction and Techno in the other in order not to exit the building together; they reasoned they had less of a chance of being spotted that way.

While Techno was rushing towards his intended exit, he hadn't unstrapped his AK-47 because he didn't think he would run into anyone else. He was just concentrating on getting out. His haste towards an exit was cut short, though, because he reached the region where the original three militants had massacred the congressmen. Techno saw the bodies of three of his comrades and their six victims. But that wasn't all he saw because he also came face-to-face with a man who was wearing sunglasses inside the building. Johnny was walking towards him from twenty feet away when he caught sight of his military outfit and jumped behind some seats to take cover. Techno hurriedly unstrapped his AK-47 and began firing into the seats Johnny had disappeared behind.

His bullets were tearing into the seats, but unknown to him, Johnny was crawling towards the end of the line of seats. He saw some chairs there that weren't bolted down like the seats were. Upon reaching the chairs, Johnny swiftly stood up and grabbed the closest chair by the legs. Techno was surprised to see him emerge several feet away from the spot he had been firing at. As he aimed his AK-47 toward his target's new position, Johnny swung the chair back. Before Techno could pull on the trigger, Johnny hurled the chair at him with all the strength he could bring up. The chair flew the twenty feet of space that separated them and struck Techno in the face, knocking him out.

As Techno lay motionless on his back with his arms stretched out wide, Johnny began to hear several sirens emanating from outside the building. He knew right away it was the massive back-up officer Boyle had promised them as they came inside. But Johnny suddenly realized in fear that the people outside might have taken Boyle to the hospital before he told them about the three people who chased after the militants. Sonya and Scott weren't with him and they were both armed, Johnny remembered, especially Scott who was dressed in a black commando outfit. Johnny hurried towards an exit to warn the people outside. The last thing he wanted to hear was that a SWAT team member shot either of his friends after mistaking them for militants.

Blud, in the meanwhile, was making his way through an area that looked much like the place where they had first hit the politicians. He was surprised when he came across the blonde who had beaten him up in the mall. Sonya had carried Scott all the way out of the hall after leaving the conference room. Blud instantly aimed his AK-47 at her even though he didn't know who she was still carrying on her shoulders. He saw that she and the other individual were hurt and covered with blood. He realized he could simply open fire and kill them both, and Sonya knew it too as she locked eyes with him. By this time, the pain and exhaustion had already drained just about all her energy and, if Blud wanted to fire, she had already made peace with herself. But Blud wasn't firing.

"What the _hell_ are you waiting for?!?!", Sonya barked at him as she desperately kept trying to inhale some air, "Do it!!!".

But Blud didn't do as she expected, he instead lowered his AK-47 until it touched the floor. He then let it go and stood at his full height at the ready with a menacing smile on his face. Sonya couldn't believe what she was seeing. This guy wanted to fight, she told herself.

"You've got me at an _extreme_ disadvantage", she almost pleaded with him, "I can barely walk.... I just wanna get my friend out of here while he still has a pulse. Whatever you wanna do is up to you".

She knew she didn't have a chance in her current condition. Blud was a challenge when she was prime shape, but she now had a deep knife wound in the shoulder and was fatigued after carrying Scott for hundreds of feet. But Blud didn't sympathize. In fact, Sonya realized, he probably liked it better like this so he was sure to avenge his earlier beating at her hands.

After coming to terms with the fact that the only way she and Scott could get out alive was if she gave in to Blud's demands, she slowly lowered her partner to the floor. Scott groaned again as she put him on the floor.

"Hey... What....", he wondered out loud and in pain.

Sonya didn't stay next to him to answer, she stood back up instead and walked towards Blud intending to inflict as much damage as possible. She reasoned to herself that if she could keep him from reaching Scott, then officer Boyle's back-up might find her partner in time. She couldn't let Blud get to Scott because Scott was completely helpless by now.

"OK, tough guy", she stood at the ready several feet in front of her opponent, "Come on!".

She wanted him to make the first move, so Blud screamed and rushed forward towards her. As he reached her, Sonya spun to her right and punched him in the side of the stomach with her left fist. Unfortunately, due to her lack of energy, Blud barely felt it. He just stopped cold and laughed after he realized how weak her hit was. Sonya didn't concede defeat, though, she tried to strike again. But Blud grabbed her by both upper arms, lifted her into the air and then tossed her fifteen feet away like a rag doll. Sonya flew in midair as she screamed before landing on her back. She tried to stand up as she saw Blud calmly walking towards her with only revenge on his face.

"How does it feel to be on the receiving end?", he asked her as he squatted next to her on the left and gripped her shirt collar with his left hand, thus making sure she coudn't stand back up.

With that, he clenched his right hand into a fist and punched her in the jaw with all his strength. That single hit snapped Sonya's head to the right as she felt blood coming out of her mouth. She was still spitting out the blood as she straightened her head, and Blud next punched her using a jab right below the eyes. Her head snapped backwards and she knew her nose was broken. He grabbed her by the hair and brought her head back to its straight position so she could see the next punch coming. He pulled his right arm back with a fist so she would realize what his next move was.

"You can spare yourself any more of a beating", Blud told Sonya with a smile as he still had his left grip on her shirt collar, "All you have to do is beg for mercy".

Sonya knew he planned to kill no matter what she said.

"Fuck you!!", she whispered through the blood that was flowing from her mouth and nose.

"Wrong answer!", Blud responded right before punching her in the jaw for the second time.

He realized he could go on beating her like that for a long time, but he remembered the five minute deadline his boss had instructed him on. So instead of beating her unconscious, he shoved Sonya flat on her back on the floor with his left arm and knelt next to her. He then let go of her collar and pressed his massive left palm on her mouth as he also pinched her nostrils with his left thumb and index finger to cut off her air supply. He also pressed his right palm over her eyes so he'd have more leverage. Sonya instantly figured out what he was trying to do by pressing his entire weight on his two hands and desperately tried to get out of his hold.

"MMMMMMMMM!!!", was the only thing he heard from her as she punched him in the face with her right fist.

Blud laughed at her attempt because her hit felt more like a light slap as he kept pressing both his hands on her face. Sonya put both her hands on top of his left one in an effort of pull it off her mouth, but to no avail. As precious seconds passed by, she began to panic. She kicked her feet into the air in a wild manner as she kept moaning and trying to pull his left hand off.

"It shouldn't be long now", Blud grimaced, "I would've stayed longer, but I only got a couple of minutes left, you know".

Just when Blud thought he had won unconditionally, someone reached him from behind and wrapped two arms around his neck. The person didn't try to pull him off Sonya. Instead, Blud realized to his horror that the person behind him held a grenade in the right hand and passed the index finger of the left hand through the pin.

"GET OFF OF HER, ASSHOLE!!!", Scott screamed into Blud's ear from behind him, "OR I'M PULLING THE PIN AND BELIEVE ME, I CAN DO IT!!".

Blud believed him because he instantly released the pressure on Sonya's face and stayed on his knees. Sonya quickly sat up on the floor with her left palm on her neck as she tried to calm herself down. She inhaled and exhaled in a loud manner while she stared into Blud's eyes.

"Everything OK, boss?", Scott asked her from behind Blud with his arms still wrapped around her potential executioner.

"I'm OK, sidekick. Thanks", she answered still breathing hard.

Scott had crawled over to Blud from behind him when he realized what was going on, so he wasn't holding his weight up by himself. He had to lean on Blud to do it. The giant militant was still not moving because he didn't want to give the person behind him a reason to do anything drastic.

"If you pull the pin, you'll die too", Blud told Scott without looking at anyone as Sonya shakily stood up and walked over to the AK-47 he had rested on the floor.

"I don't _care_!", Scott snapped back, "But _she_ gets out of here alive!".

After gripping Blud's AK-47, Sonya turned around to face the two of them as she aimed it at Blud's head.

"Scott, let him go", she told her partner.

From behind Blud, Scott stared at Sonya without answering. Seeing the expression on his face, she got the eerie feeling he was planning to pull the pin to stop being a burden to her. The last thing Sonya wanted was to see him sacrifice himself for her.

"Scott, let him go!", she told him in a more stern voice.

She still got the same stare as Blud was getting more and more scared. It wasn't just Scott's action he was dreading, but also the time limit specified by Kline.

"LET HIM GO, SCOTT!! PLEASE!!", Sonya began to panic.

She knew she was far enough that if Scott had pulled the pin, there was not anything she could've done about it. Fortunately, Scott decided to loosen his arms around Blud's neck. He fell flat on his back and let go of the grenade as Blud stood up. Blud wanted to get out of there fast, but he wasn't going anywhere as long as Sonya was pointing the firearm at his head.

She was considering shooting him on the spot, but she decided on another choice. Sonya marched towards him quickly and she gripped the muzzle of the AK-47 with both hands instead. From a handful of feet away, she and Blud locked eyes.

"I hope you enjoyed the fight, tough guy", she told him, "Because that's gonna be the last time you're gonna be touched by a member of the opposite sex".

With those words, and before Blud could react, Sonya pulled the AK-47 towards her left and then swung it at his head. As the firearm crashed into him, Blud dropped on the floor unconscious with a deep cut on his forehead. Sonya then let go of the weapon and sat on the floor next to Scott to try to regain her strength and.

"God, this hurts!!!", Scott groaned as he compressed his teeth from the pain.

Sonya knew his trip towards Blud must have hurt a great deal as she noticed more blood flowing out from her shoulder wound. She didn't pay attention to it, just like she ignored the blood that originated from her mouth and nose.

"Never try to fight somebody when you've got a hole in your shoulder", she told Scott.

Something Blud had said during his attempt to kill her stood out in her mind. She asked herself why he had been in such a rush when he was enjoying himself by beating her.

"Look, Sonya", Scott raised his head to see her, "Just get outta here. Let me go".

"No!", she insisted as she looked back at him.

"Don't be so damn stubborn!!!", Scott shot back as he let his head hit the floor.

"Listen, dammit!", she retaliated as she grabbed him by the tank top and looked down at his face, "We can get out of this! It's not hopeless for either of us! I can still get you out, but have to _want_ me to! I can't save somebody who wants to die, so stay alive! You _have_ to stay alive, Scott! For me! You and Johnny are too important. I can't keep on fighting all by myself, I just can't! You have to wanna stay. I can't keep on fighting if you're willing to give up... So what is it?".

"You're an idiot sometimes, you know that?...", Scott answered after hearing the lecture, "But hey, so am I".

His reply was enough to make her smile despite all the blood and pain she was being accompanied with. She stood up to her full height as the wound from her shoulder began to drip drops of blood on the floor around her feet. She then picked up Blud's AK-47 again because she had one more thing to do.

"What?", Scott asked as he closed his eyes.

"Something this idiot said keeps bugging me", Sonya let him know, "I'll be _right _back, OK? I'm just gonna go to where he came from because I got a _real_ bad feeling about this one".

"What?", Scott asked again because he was in a daze.

"Just promise me you'll be alive when I come back...", she said, "Promise?".

"Yeah, sure", he answered as he opened his eyes back up and stared at the ceiling.

Sonya ran towards the direction she saw Blud emerge from as she held on to his firearm. Drops of blood were marking her trail next to her sneakers as she made her way. After running for less than a minute, she abruptly stopped as she found herself staring at Kline. She held the AK-47 in front of her face with both hands because he was still grasping the trigger for the C4.

"Put it down, Kline", Sonya ordered as she aimed the AK-47 at his forehead.

Kline was surprised to see there. He was even more surprised at her appearance. The blood from her shoulder wound was dripping on the left side of her T-shirt and then on the floor while the blood from her mouth and nose was staining her chin and collar.

"How the hell did you get here?", Kline nosily asked.

"I don't have _time _for this!!", Sonya angrily snapped at him, "I'm hurt, one of my friends is dying and I don't even know what happened to the other! _Putit down_!!!".

"No way", Kline answered, "I've come too far to be thwarted now".

That was the last thing he got to say because Sonya pulled the trigger of the AK-47 once and sent a single round into his forehead. The bullet blew Kline's brain matter out the back of his head as he dropped without a sound. His body hit the floor dead without him being able to press the button the detonate any of the C4.

Sonya dropped the AK-47 and simply returned to where Scott lay. She was too exhausted to feel sorry for Kline. She had trouble walking straight and kept bumping into the wall when she finally reached her intended area. When she was within fifteen feet of Scott, she realized that he wasn't moving at all and his eyes were closed.

"Oh nooo!", she panicked as she rushed to his side.

She knelt next to his stomach and touched the left side of his upper chest to feel for a heartbeat. There was a faint heartbeat, but it was extremely weak, so she stood up to finally take him outside. She couldn't even try to load his weight on her shoulders, so she just picked him a few inches off the floor. She slipped her right arm under his upper back and her left arm under his knees.

"Don't leave me alone here, you got that?", she told him as her voice shook, "You're _not_ gonna take the easy way out!".

As she actually succeeded in lifting him by putting her arms to the ultimate test, she heard footsteps rushing towards her. She was dead if they were militants, she told herself. To her delight, she saw half a dozen SWAT team members armed in M-16 rifles coming straight at her.

"Put him down! Hands up!", one member ordered.

Sonya gladly complied with both orders. As the six men came closer, the one who spoke walked to within a few feet of her.

"Sonya?", he asked.

"Yeah!! My friend's hurt! You gotta help him, please!!", she implored as she lowered her arms by her side.

"The actor is outside bugging us all about you and Scott", the man responded.

"I'll take him", another SWAT member told them right before he strapped his M-16 around his chest and easily picked up Scott.

"_That_ one's one of them, by the way", Sonya pointed at Blud's unconscious figure as one of the members was handcuffing the militant's wrists behind his back, "They're all dressed like that".

"Allright, we got it. Go with Tank", the member who had spoken to her first told her before the five remaining men rushed ahead.

Tank, as the SWAT member who was carrying Scott was known, accompanied her outside. He easily noticed the trail of blood that was following her.

"You should go to an ambulance, lady", he told her as they reached an exit door.

"I'll do that", she told him as they walked out and she saw him putting Scott on a stretcher as two paramedics went to work.

Sonya shakily walked past the paramedics and police officers who were around her. A few officers were busy keeping the large crowd that had surrounded the area calm, but she didn't see or hear them. She saw Johnny a second before he saw her. She kept walking towards him as Johnny rushed to her and stood two feet in front of her.

"Where's Scott?", Johnny asked.

"He's hurt, Johnny", Sonya faintly told him, "I don't even know if he's still alive".

"Jesus!", Johnny answered as he looked at the huge amount of blood that was covering her, "How about you? Are _you_ hurt?".

She looked him in the eyes.

"Yeah", she said with a smile.

After saying that, Sonya looked up at the sky as her facial expression went blank. She fell forward and fainted in Johnny's arms. She was lucky he was there to catch her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Sonya woke up, she was lying on a stretcher that was touching the wall in a hospital hallway. Doctors and nurses were running by her like she wasn't even there. The first thing she saw was the neon light in the ceiling and the second was Johnny's face looking down at her. At least he came out fine, she told herself.

"Scott!!", she exclaimed as she sat up on the stretcher, "Where's Scott??".

She felt extremely light-headed, so Johnny motioned her to lie back down.

"You shouldn't sit up just yet", he advised her, "The nurse patched up your shoulder but you've lost a lot of blood. You should lie back down".

Sonya was never the type to do what she was told, so she twisted around and planted her bare feet on the hospital floor. She was still wearing her blood-soaked shorts and T-shirt as she looked at her fellow mortal kombatant again.

"How's Scott?", she pressed him because she had to know.

"They're still working on him", Johnny answered by pointing his index finger down the hallway, "He's down there".

"At least they didn't put me into one of those hospital gowns", Sonya commented as she stood on her own feet.

She then held grabbed her forehead with her right hand because she felt extremely dizzy.

"They've been bringing people in every second in here", Johnny told her, "The doctors and nurses couldn't afford to concentrate on one person".

Despite her dizziness, Sonya staggered towards the room where Scott was being held by being accompanied by Johnny as he pointed the exact room out. As they both reached the door with the glass in it, they saw a figure inside the room who was standing over the bed. Sonya leaned her back against the wall opposite the door and crossed her arms as Johnny patiently waited next to her.

"Lieutenant Richards was murdered just a few feet away from me", she told him as people rushed by them both, "Knowing Scott got hit was like seeing Richards go down all over again".

Sonya passed her hands through her hair.

"I can't lose _him_ too, Johnny", she sighed, "I just can't".

"I can't wait to explain _this _to the producers", Johnny told her after she quieted down, "We were supposed to start filming that damn film _hours _ago and they _still _don't know where I am".

"Just tell 'em the truth", Sonya advised.

"Just like that", he looked at her.

"Yeah. You saw twelve men attacking the House of Representatives, you went in there and single-handedly wiped them out", she informed him.

"That's not a bad idea", he let her know.

"If you wanna go call 'em, that's probably a good idea", Sonya told him to let him know that he didn't need to watch over her around the clock, "You shouldn't leave people in the dark anyway. Everyone deserves to know the truth for a certainty".

"I'm not sure if I should leave you alone, to be honest", he spoke his mind.

"I'll be fine. Really", she patted him on the shoulder, "I'm just glad you came out in one piece".

With those words, she reached over and wrapped her arms around his neck. He patted her on the lower back before he turned away to find a phone.

"I'll be _right_ back", he held up his right index finger as he walked away.

After Johnny was momentarily gone, the person in the room, who turned out to be a doctor, emerged and closed the door behind him.

"How is he?", Scott uneasily pushed herself off the wall.

"I can only notify his family", the doctor flatly answered, "Are _you_ a member of the family?".

"Yeah, I'm his wife", Sonya almost sarcastically answered.

Her tone of voice told the doctor that she wasn't being serious.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you then", he began to walk away.

Annoyed, Sonya rushed for him, grabbed him by his shirt collar and pinned him against the wall.

"I don't feel like putting _up_ with this!", she snapped at him with an angry stare, "Talk!".

The doctor decided it would be easier to tell her about Scott's condition instead of arguing or trying to call security.

"This patient will never walk again", he sternly replied.

Sonya still had him pinned against the wall as his words sunk in.

"Do you_ mind_?", the doctor angrily asked about her grip.

Sonya instantly released him and let him proceed with whatever he had in mind with others.

"It shows how much _you _know", she commented to him as he walked away.

She opened the door without even knowing if Scott was conscious. When she entered the small room, she noticed that he was.

"How 'ya feeling?", she asked him as she closed the door behind her.

"No pain at all", Scott faintly answered as he saw her, "I guess I'm pretty lucky. How are_ you_ doing?".

"Bleeding was stopped", she smiled, "All I need now is a shower and a change of clothes".

"And Johnny?".

"He's fine", she told him, "He came out exactly as he went in".

"Did the doc tell you?", Scott obviously knew about the extent of his injury.

"Yeah", Sonya answered, "But that's bullshit! _He_ doesn't know what he's talking about!".

"Right", Scott said sarcastically, "I knew this would've happened sooner or later. This kind of lifestyle never lasts long".

"You will walk again!", Sonya gripped his hand, "And I'll help you! I won't stop until you're back to beating up three guys at once, I promise".

"Thanks for the offer", Scott gave a faint smile.

"Hey, soldiers have to look out for each other, right?", she smiled back.

"I need some sleep", he told her even though he wanted to keep talking.

"Oh sure", she gripped his hand tighter, "I'll be back, OK? I'll be right outside. Just call when you wake up".

"OK", he promised as he closed his eyes and she let go of his hand.

Sonya walked back outside and closed the door behind her. She stood across the hall and stared at the door where her sidekick was. She decided to stay there until Johnny came back so she could tell him about what they were facing.


	3. Final Confrontation 3

She stood in the middle of two parallel bars that were about as high as her waistline. Five feet away from her, at one end of the two bars, Scott held one bar in each hand as he faced at her knowing that he was facing a challenge. Although his bare feet were touching the floor, he didn't have any of his weight concentrated on them. Instead, his entire body was being held up by his two wrists. While facing him, Sonya extended both her hands at arm's length in front of her shoulders.

"Come on, Scott", Sonya urged him, "Just one step... That's all you need... Take my hand. Come on. Take my hand".

Scott was breathing hard as he desperately tried to gain some balance on his feet while his hands were still wrapped hard around the two bars.

"You did it two days ago", she kept on encouraging him, "You can do it! Take my hand, Scott... Take my hand... Come on, partner. You can do it... Take my hand. All you need is one step. Take my hand".

Scott had heard enough motivation and believed he could do it. He carefully put his right foot ahead of the rest of his body as he kept staring at her. While he transferred some of his weight from the wrists to the right foot, his lower body went limp. Scott screamed as he felt himself falling on the floor. As soon as Sonya saw him losing his balance, she lunged forward and grabbed him by both upper arms while his body was still mostly upright. By still holding on to his upper arms, she then gently eased him towards the floor. After Sonya had him seated on the floor, she sat down facing him.

"It's OK", she tried to reassure him, "We'll try again".

Despite her consolation, Scott was extremely angry, with himself more than anyone else. He punched the wooden floor with the right fist.

"Goddamn!!", he yelled, "I did it before!! Why can't I do it again?? Come on, goddamnit!! I should be able to do it!!".

"That's right, you _did_ do it before", Sonya went on, "So that means you can do it again. We're not gonna give up. This is just a small setback... Right?".

Scott didn't feel nearly as optimistic as her.

"What the hell am I doing, huh?", he asked her, feeling exhausted, "What the hell makes me think I'm gonna be on my feet again? The doctors said I'd never walk again. I'm just supposed to defy what they said?".

Sonya couldn't afford to let him give up.

"Fuck the doctors!", she snapped at him, "They don't know anything about you! They're just putting a bunch of words together so people will think they're earning their paycheck!".

"What the hell am I still doing here in your place?", Scott still wanted to yield to his condition, "I should've left here and gone to some physical therapy place after my two weeks were up. What the hell are you doing sticking to me like a wet T-shirt?".

He knew he wouldn't be allowed to accept his condition as long as Sonya was around. He wanted to walk, but the physical strain was simply overwhelming him. The idea of spending the rest of his life being considered a 'physically challenged' person increasingly appealed to him as time went by.

"You _will _walk again", Sonya kept pressuring, "I told you that you would and you will. We're not giving up. I'm not letting _you _give up".

She pointed her index finger at his face as she made her last comment and added to his frustration without realizing it.

"That's easy for _you_ to say!!!", Scott's anger turned to her, "Half your body isn't _dead_!!! Why don't you just let it_ go_???!!! I should've just gotten out of here when I got out of the hospital!!!".

Sonya had her eyes locked with his. She knew he wasn't angry at her in particular since he had been under a tremendous amount of stress. Scott couldn't stand the eye contact after a few seconds and partially turned his head to the lower left so he wouldn't have to see her eyes steadily drilling into his.

"Look", Sonya sighed as she stood back up and looked down at him, "I'm the one who dragged you to the encounter with the militants, so that makes _me_ responsible for what happened. I told you I'd help you walk... You can already take a few steps with the help of a walker, that's _also_ something the genius doctors said you'd never do. When you're back on your feet without a walker, you can leave and then I'll get out of your life for good, OK?".

Her response calmed Scott down to the point where he realized that snapping at her was not going to make him feel better. He sighed and kept breathing hard to regain his breath as she stood in front of him. She didn't expect him to apologize or even answer, she only wanted him not to give up now. He finally looked up at her after about a minute.

"I don't want you to leave", he quietly said, "I don't know what I would do if you did".

"Good", Sonya smiled, "Because I don't _want_ to leave you".

She saw the first smile on Scott's face since she had brought him to her home from the hospital. She helped him up to his feet and towards the walker soon afterwards because he didn't seem to be in the mood for any more physical challenges.

"I'm gonna go out for a little while", she told him as she strapped her wristwatch on.

"Where to?", Scott was curious.

"I have to find a job sooner or later", she notified him, "I can't just let my dad pay for the bills around here. I hope you understand, I won't be gone long. Sooner or later I have to run into an available spot".

"Oh sure. That's fine", he said, "I'll be fine, don't worry".

"OK", she held on to his right hand before she headed for the door, "And don't let it get to you too much. We _will_ get through it".

"I'll remember that", he didn't want her to stand around him when she had errands to run.

She got the message and promptly left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya walked briskly for about twenty minutes until she reached a shopping center. She thought the weather was perfect to be dressed in her usual shorts and T-shirt. Wanting to try her luck, she entered the first store that had a sign on the door to indicate an opportunity. She saw an older man in a tie standing in front of a cash register and talking to an employee who was about her age and behind the register.

"Excuse me", Sonya interrupted their conversation by addressing the employee, "I saw the help wanted sign out front. Could I have an application?".

"You should speak to him", the employee pointed to the man in front of the cash register, "He's the manager".

"Oh", Sonya answered with a smile as the older man turned to face her.

"Why don't you come on in my office? We can talk there", the manager motioned her to follow him.

Sonya walked after him into a small wooden office that was situated at the end of a line of cash registers. Once inside, he offered her a chair, handed her an application and began to pose questions as she was filling it out.

"What's your name?", the manager politely asked.

"Sonya", she answered by looking up at him, "Sonya Blade".

"Well, Sonya, I'm Eric. I'm the manager here", he told her, "The only thing we're looking for right now is someone to possibly work the cash registers. Can you do that?".

She couldn't remember the last time she operated a cash register.

"I can learn!", she improvised instead of saying 'no'.

"Where was the last place you worked at before?", was Eric's next question as she was filling in her address and phone number.

"Well", she looked up again trying to find the right way to response, "I was with the military in Hong Kong".

"Oh, really?", Eric sounded interested, "Is your tour of duty over?".

"You could say that", she told him as she handed him the application.

"Allright, Sonya", Eric put it on his desk, "We'll be in touch if we wanna call you".

"You mean the position isn't open right now?", Sonya stood up disappointed, though not surprised.

"Oh no. We're looking for help when the busy season starts about three weeks from now", he replied as he saw the expression on her face, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let you believe that it was open right now".

"It's not that", Sonya echoed, "Just that, I've gotten that answer about ten thousand times in the last several weeks and I never heard anything back. The thing is, I can do a _lot _more than just work a cash register".

"Like what?", Eric pondered.

"In Hong Kong, I was with the Special Forces", she responded, "If you need something like a security guard, I'm the one for the job. I've been training in the martial arts for a while now".

"Really? Are you any good?".

"_I _think so", she went on.

"So why did Hong Kong let you go?", Eric curiously asked.

"I guess you're gonna find this out anyway", Sonya said, "I was discharged because I didn't follow some guy's orders. I mean, this guy was a _total_ idiot and he expected to boss me around. I just couldn't stand for it".

As soon as she finished making her last statement, she realized it was probably a mistake to be so honest.

"Well, I'll keep the security thing in mind too", he uttered as he opened the door for her.

Sonya walked out of the office and then out of the store hoping for the job but not expecting to get it.

Once outside in the shopping center, she walked for a few more minutes before spotting another store that was possibly hiring. Just as she opened the door and was about to continue inside, she heard a yell from some distance away at her right. She turned her head and spotted a well-dressed man who was about her age and who was kicking another man as that one was lying on the ground in front of a blue Ferrari. The well-dressed man in the suit and tie was kicking his victim with a passion as onlookers walked by in the parking lot.

"Hey!! HEY!!", she yelled to get his attention as she let go of the door and it slowly closed.

Sonya rushed through the light crowd towards the fight as the man ignored her and kept kicking his adversary in the stomach and the head. He was still kicking him when Sonya tackled him from the side and slammed his back against the passenger-side door of the Ferrari. She held on to the base of his tie as he was surprised someone had stopped him.

"Stop that!", Sonya locked eyes with him as she made sure his back didn't stop touching the car door and window.

While his victim was still on the ground coughing, the well-dressed man grunted and punched Sonya in the jaw with his left fist. The blow wasn't powerful, but it was enough to snap her head backwards and to anger her. She straightened her head slowly as she kept her grip on his tie. When their eyes locked for the second time, the expression on her face had changed to one that was looking for revenge. Without saying anything, Sonya kneed him between the legs with all her strength. She then let go of his tie as the man bent over and screamed in pain. He staggered two steps forward as he tried to regain his breath. Instead of letting him go, Sonya gripped the hair on the back of his head with her left hand, pulled him up to his full height and then uppercut him under the chin with her right fist. The man's head snapped backwards as he moaned and fell on his back in front of the car.

As both the aggressor and the victim got back on their feet with difficulty, they and Sonya heard the siren of a police car approaching. The well-dressed man clearly did not want to be around when the police reached them and tried to open the driver's side door of the Ferrari. He didn't get inside because Sonya reached him from behind and pinned his face on the hood of the car as soon as the door was opened.

"Come on, now", she angrily told him, "Let's all wait to see what the police have to say about this".

"Please, let me go. I can't be here", the man pleaded, "Look. I have a checkbook with me. I'll write you a check for ten thousand dollars right here and now. Please, let me go!".

Sonya released her grip on him so he turned around to face her.

"Ten thousand bucks?", she asked as she pretended to be interested.

"Yeah, yeah!", the man answered as he reached into his right pocket and pulled out a checkbook with a pen attached to it, "I'll write it out now!".

"Make it twenty thousand", Sonya ordered as he opened the checkbook.

"Fine", the man instantly agreed.

As he was writing the amount in the check, Sonya pulled the checkbook out of his hand with her right thumb and index finger. She then held it with both hands.

"Nah! I aien't interested", she said as she tore his checkbook in half in front of him.

The man stared at her with disbelief on his face as a patrol car approached them and stopped. Two uniformed police officers got out and walked towards the three of them.

"Allright. What's going on here?", one officer asked Sonya, the aggressor and the victim.

"Well, officer", Sonya pointed her index finger at the well-dressed man after she dropped the torn checkbook on the ground, "_This_ guy was beating up on that man right there".

"Is that true?", the other officer asked the victim as a second patrol car appeared.

"Yeah", the victim answered as he held his right shoulder while his nose was bleeding.

"Allright. I want all three of you at the station", the first officer told the trio as the two men from the second patrol car took the aggressor into the back seat of their vehicle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya and the victim were driven to the police station inside the patrol car of the first two officers who arrived at the scene. Once inside the station, the two men were taken into a room and she was told to take a seat on a bench. She took the liberty of finding a payphone and calling Johnny Cage because she knew her father wasn't around at the moment. After hearing what happened, Johnny told her he was coming and to remember that she didn't have to say anything without a lawyer. As she went back to sit on the bench after hanging up, a handful of officers walked back and forth in front of her as they headed to their duties.

After about fifteen more minutes, Sonya saw a uniformed officer walking into the room with a middle-aged man and two men who were clearly lawyers behind him. Nothing else happened for the next ten minutes until she saw Johnny making his way past officers to get to her as he still wore his sunglasses. She stood up with a smile to greet him as he reached the bench she was seated on.

"Are you OK?", was the first question Johnny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine", she told him as an officer approached the both of them.

"Sonya Blade?", he asked her as he held up a piece of paper that had her picture, her address and phone number on it.

"Yes", she responded.

"Is the information on this sheet still correct?", the officer asked as he pointed at the piece of paper.

"Yeah, it still is", she told him after reading it, "What is this for?".

"Oh, nothing", the officer answered, "We just wanna know where to send you a subpoena or something in case we need you to testify if this thing ends up in court".

"OK", Sonya went on as the officer left.

Just then, the door to the room opened and the victim walked out accompanied by a uniformed officer. After they headed to leave the station and were gone, the door was closed. A few minutes later, the well-dressed man who had offered her the bribe walked out being followed by the older man and the two lawyers. He stared at Johnny and Sonya for a split second before looking straight ahead. While they were walking away, another uniformed officer approached Sonya and stood a few feet away from her, not wanting to intrude in her space unless he had to.

"What's it feel like to get beaten up, rich boy??", Sonya yelled after the well-dressed man as the officer near her took one step closer to make sure she wouldn't attack him.

Sonya knew the reason the officer was there, so she didn't try anything physical. Instead, she kept on yelling after the aggressor and receiving the attention of other officers in the station.

"Now you have something to talk about when you get together with your girlfriend", she went on, making sure she was loud enough to be heard by him, "Make sure to tell her of that time when a woman beat you up!!.. All the money in the _world_ can't buy you talent. _Can _it, rich boy?".

After she was done, the man and his lawyers walked far enough to be out of range of even her voice. The officer next to her then left also because she didn't charge at anyone.

"You know", Johnny spoke his mind, "That was probably not a good idea. His lawyers would be able to use what you said against you in court to make him look innocent".

"Johnny, come on", Sonya wanted him to see her point of view, "I knew this guy wouldn't get convicted ever since the second he offered me the bribe. First, his father will offer the victim a nice five or six figure cash amount to get amnesia about the incident and his lawyers would've painted me to be some rogue ex-soldier. _All_ they have to do is show my military record to the twelve people in the jury... I figured as long as it was a lost case, I might as well put him down. I don't need his kind of money _or_ company in my life".

"So, wadda you gonna do now?", Johnny next asked.

"Could you take me back to the shopping center?", she told him, "I _still_ have a store to apply to".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After being driven back to the shopping center in Johnny's car, she thanked her fellow mortal kombatant and he left after making sure it's what she really wanted. She then proceeded to go into the store she was headed for before she saw the fighting in the parking lot. She walked up to a cash register and looked at the operator behind it. He was a guy who was younger than her.

"Excuse me", she addressed him as politely as she could after the experience in the police station, "I was wondering about the sign up front for hired help. Who do I have to talk to for that?".

"That's mister Keller in there", the operator pointed towards an office just like the one in the previous store.

He walked towards the office as she followed him. He knocked on the door three times before declaring who it was.

"Mister Keller?", he called, "There's somebody here who is interested in the job".

Keller opened the door a few seconds afterwards and saw them both. He was a middle-aged man who reminded Sonya of her father.

"Come on in", he said as he left the door open and headed back inside the office.

Sonya walked inside expecting that the employee who was behind her would close the door and leave. Instead, the young employee walked in after her before closing the door. He then began to organize some pieces of paper that were lying on tables or were posted on the wall.

"Please, have a seat", Keller motioned her to a chair that was one of three around a circular wooden table.

"Thank you", Sonya smiled before sitting down.

"That's fine", Keller addressed the employee who was in the office with them, "You don't need to do that right now".

"It's a real mess boss", the employee protested.

"Really, I think Carl needs you more in the back room anyway. Get outta here", Keller pressed on.

Looking disappointed, the employee reluctantly left. After he was out of the office and closed the door behind him, Keller sat on the chair two feet away from Sonya with an application in his hand. She was still smiling at him as he handed her the application and a pen.

"Sorry about that", Keller told her about the employee as she wrote her name down on the application.

"Oh, that's fine", she told him without looking up since she found it was easier to lie if she wasn't locking eyes with someone.

"Do you have any experience working in a place like this one?", Keller asked.

"Well, no", she had to admit, "I just got out of the military a short while ago and I'm living with my dad".

"Out of military, huh?", Keller went on, "What branch?".

"The Army", she instantly responded still without looking at him.

"Actually, we need help right now. I can pay you eight dollars an hour plus overtime", Keller told her as he twisted his head a bit to see what her name was, "Sonya, is it?".

When he mentioned that he was hiring immediately, it caught her as a pleasant surprise and she looked up at him for the first time.

"Yes, that's right!", she locked eyes with him as the smile on her face became genuine.

"Well, Sonya", Keller said, "When can you start?".

"I can start tomorrow if you want!", she enthusiastically answered.

"Good", Keller smiled back, "Do you want the job?"

"Yes! Very much! What are my responsibilities?", Sonya asked still smiling; she couldn't wait to go back home and tell her father and Scott that she got a job.

"Well, your responsibilities would be a bit different from everyone else's", Keller replied, "You'd have to do_ some_ things extra if you wanna work here".

The next thing she felt was his hand on her right knee. The happy expression on Sonya's face instantly changed as she opened her eyes and mouth wide since it came to her as a shock. She looked down at the table under which her knee was for a split second as Keller moved his hand upwards on her right thigh towards her waistline. Looking back at Keller, Sonya reached for him with her right hand and gripped the hair on the back of his head. She then smashed his head face-down on the table as she stood up. Keller screamed and let go of her as his nose painfully impacted on the wood.

"Let go!! Let go!!", he groaned as he swung his arms in the air, with no avail.

"Listen, motherfucker", Sonya brought her head to within a few inches of his, "I don't know who you think I am, but tactics like that don't work. _Especially_ not with me!".

After saying that, she released her grip on his head and Keller pulled his head off the table and moaned as he held his nose. Without looking at him, Sonya quietly headed for the door. She opened it, stepped out of the office and closed it behind her. She then headed for the exit door to get out of the store. Before leaving, she walked past the cash register and saw the young employee still standing behind it. From seeing the expression on her face, he could see she was angry. By looking at him, Sonya quickly perceived that he knew what had happened, so she stopped before heading outside.

"You knew what he'd try, didn't you?", she flatly asked him, "_That's_ why you wanted to stay inside with me".

"So what happened?", the employee asked.

"I might've broken his nose. I'm not sure", she answered feeling proud, "Thanks for trying to stay in there, though".

"This job pays really good, but I know what's gonna happen", the employee told her, "Sooner or later, somebody's gonna sue his ass for everything he's got. So I'm looking for another job right now".

"Me too", Sonya answered as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I just wish I could _find_ one!".

"Can I have your phone number, by the way?", the employee suddenly asked.

She opened her eyes wide at the request for a few seconds before narrowing them back.

"Aren't you a little too _young _for me?", she asked smiling and flattered.

"Oh, it's not _that_! It's just that when I find a job, I could call you to let you know if there's another one available", he answered even though she could see he wasn't a very good liar.

"You're _still_ in high school, aren't you?", Sonya asked him through a pair of slim eyes.

"Well, yeah", he answered.

"I guess it can't hurt", she said as she approached the register and grabbed a pen that was near it.

She wrote her phone number on a loose piece of paper that she found and then handed it to him with a smile.

"Here", she said as he took the paper, "If you have the guts to call, then we'll talk about anything that's on your mind".

The young employee just smiled and put the piece of paper in his pocket. Since he didn't say anything else, Sonya turned away and walked out of the store. She was amused by what happened, but she knew he wouldn't call. The first sign that indicated it was the fact that he didn't ask for her name as he took her phone number. It was fun though and at least the entire day wasn't a waste, she thought to herself as she headed home.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya spent the rest of the day helping Scott find some more feelings on his feet since her father was not planning to be home until tomorrow. The afternoon then turned to night and both Special Forces soldiers were sound asleep by midnight. Sonya was in her bedroom and Scott was in the living room on the new fold-out couch she had bought when he came out of the hospital.

They were both having a good night's sleep. Suddenly, though, Sonya was jolted wide away from her peaceful dream. She sat up in bed in the middle of the darkness feeling terrified for no apparent reason. She didn't hear anything, all she knew was that she felt extremely scared. She quickly reached under her pillow and pulled out her trusty 9mm Glock. Holding it in her right hand, she scanned the bedroom by turning her waistline in a 270 angle as she was seated facing the foot of the bed. After her eyes were used to the darkness and she was convinced no one was in the room with her, she then reached for the floor next to the bed and found her wristwatch. Turning the light inside the wristwatch on told her it was almost 3:00 AM, so she dropped the watch back on the floor. She then crashed her head back on the pillow as she rested the handgun on her stomach while she still gripped the handle with her right hand.

Sonya was too alert and awake to fall back asleep, so she decided to get out of bed after lying there for a few minutes. While still holding the Glock, she casually walked over to the only bedroom window barefoot to take a look outside. As she leaned on the window sill on her elbows, she saw nothing strange initially. The street that her home faced was quiet as it always was during this time and the streetlights had covered the sidewalk and streets with a soft yellow glow. As a few seconds passed, though, her eyes caught sight of something odd behind the streetlight that was closest to her home. For a short while, she couldn't distinguish what the mass at the foot of the streetlight was. As she squinted her eyes, though, she noticed to her horror that it was a human body. Shrieking, she rushed out of the bedroom dressed in the shorts and T-shirt that she had slept in without stopping to put shoes on.

As she ran into the living room, she opened the lock on the door with her left hand while gripping the handle of the Glock tightly with her right. Her rush outside awoke Scott , so he opened his eyes and partially sat up still feeling sleepy.

"What's goin' on?", he asked, "You OK?".

"Call the police!", she told him since she knew there was a phone within an arm's reach from the couch, "There's a body outside!".

She hit a switch to turn a ceiling lamp on in the living room so Scott could see his way around. Without saying anything else, Sonya opened the door and rushed outside. She instantly slowed down her initial hurry once outside because she knew she had to be careful. Still barefoot, she held the Glock with both hands at arm's length in front of her face as she slowly walked on the asphalt towards the body. She warily looked at her right and left in case anything out of the ordinary happened. As she got closer to the corpse in the middle of the peace and quiet, she noticed that its arms were missing. She wondered where the arms were as she approached it and came to within five feet away. She didn't venture any closer because she didn't want to disturb any evidence that the police might want to collect.

From five feet away, though, Sonya could still see the man's blood and blood-stained clothes. Right next to his body were what she thought were words, so she looked more carefully to make sure. She noticed she was looking at words that were written with the man's own blood. After a few more seconds, she could read what it said with the help of the overhead streetlight. Next to the man, in his own blood, was a message that was clearly written.

"You're next, bitch", Sonya read the message that was presented in blood out loud to herself.

She kept getting more scared with every second that passed by. She gripped the Glock tighter than ever with both hands and nervously looked around, anxiously waiting for the police to arrive.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three police cars arrived within a matter of minutes. Two officers drew the outline of the body on the pavement with chalk as they waited for an ambulance crew to take it to the morgue. Another officer stayed near Sonya after asking for her weapon. She handed him the Glock without resistance and he held it carefully with his index finger and thumb in order to put it inside a clear plastic evidence bag.

"The detective has been notified", the officer told her as the others combed the area around the body in search of evidence, "I'm assuming _you_ were the one who found the body, right?".

"Yeah", Sonya answered him while still staring at the corpse.

"Did you also call us?", the officer next asked.

Sonya didn't answer immediately because her mind was still on the message that was written in the victim's blood. The officer thought she didn't want to talk to him.

"Look, ma'am", he went on, "You _do_ have the right to refrain from answering questions, so would you like to call someone first?".

"No. That's not it at all", Sonya then spoke by pointing towards her home, "My friend in there was the one who made the call. He can't come out because he can't walk yet. He was hurt a while back".

"Well, we're gonna wanna talk to him too", the officer let her know.

Just then, an unmarked car without any sirens on it approached them and stopped a few yards away from the other patrol cars. A muscular man in a trench coat stepped out, closed the driver-side door behind him and walked towards the officer Sonya was talking to.

"Wadda we got, boss?", he asked the officer after he reached him.

"Well, sir", the officer addressed him, "Looks like a homicide for sure. Male victim, in his mid thirties. And he's got his arms missing".

"_Missing_?", the plainclothed man repeated, feeling surprised, "Just when I thought I had seen it all".

"By the way sir", the officer went on as he pointed at Sonya, "This young lady was the one who found the body. She went outside to investigate with this".

The officer held up the clear evidence bag with her Glock in it.

"Where'd you get that?", the man turned to her as the officer handed him the evidence bag.

"Who are _you_?", Sonya demanded as she saw him putting her Glock in his coat pocket.

"Detective Olsen. I'm as of now in charge of this case", the detective answered, "Where did you get the piece?".

"It was a gift from a friend", Sonya remembered, "I _do_ have a license for it, if that's what you're wondering".

"I never said you didn't", Olsen calmly countered as he noticed the open door of her home, "Did you come from _there_?".

"Yes", Sonya flatly answered as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Can I get the piece back now?".

"There's another person in there", the officer next to her told Olsen, "It's the person who made the call. But he can't walk".

"OK. I wanna talk to him too", Olsen said to them both as he looked down the road because they all heard the ambulance heading for them.

"Just make sure everything is preserved, OK guys?", Olsen addressed the officers who were guarding the body.

After getting nods from some of them, the detective proceeded inside Sonya's home as he gestured both her and officer next to her to follow him. Sonya lowered her arms by her sides and followed as he walked up and entered through the doorway. He took two more steps inside and turned around to look at Sonya.

"How exactly did you happen to spot the body, miss...", he wanted to know her name for the record.

"Sonya. Sonya Blade", she answered as she walked through the entrance after him.

"So, how did you see the body?", Olsen repeated.

Before she could answer, a voice from inside the living room called out to them. It was Scott's accent.

"Hey! _I _know that voice!", he addressed at whomever was near the entrance, "It's Olsen, isn't it?".

Surprised to hear his name, the detective turned away from Sonya and proceeded to walk inside the living room where Scott was seated on the bed that folded from the couch. He recognized Scott as soon as he spotted him.

"You?!", he asked with a small smile as he walked up to the bed, "Wadda you doin' here?".

"I _live _here!", Scott answered as they shook hands.

"_You_ were the one who made the call?", Olsen asked next.

"That's right".

"But she said you couldn't walk", Olsen pointed behind him at Sonya, "What happened?".

"Oh, I got hit during that raid on the House of Reps a while back", Scott let him know, "You remember that?".

"Remember?", Olsen sighed, "How can I forget?.. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that_ you_ were involved in that".

"You two know each other?", Sonya asked them both as the officer near her stayed quiet and listened.

"Yeah", Olsen turned to her and pointed at Scott, "There was a baffling case with the serial killer a couple of years back and_ this_ guy just about delivered him to me on a silver platter. I got all the recognition for nailing that prick but_ he_ did most of the work".

He then turned back to Scott with a more serious expression on his face to go on with the questions about the present case.

"Look, kid", Olsen told him, "I know you're good and you wouldn't do this. But it seems like wherever you go, weird things like this happen. Wadda you know about it?".

"I don't know about this, detective", Scott looked up at him while still seated, "I know I kept stuff from you in the past, but this time I'm being honest. I'm as surprised as you".

"Do you have any enemies around here?", Olsen asked next as the officer took Sonya to a corner of the living room to ask her to spell her name and other related information for his notebook.

"No", Scott frankly answered.

"If you don't have anybody coming after you, then why do you sleep with a this?", Olsen said as he bent over next to the bed and pulled out Scott's Beretta 92F.

Scott was impressed because he didn't think his handgun was visible to anyone. Before he could say anything, though, Sonya called to Olsen from several feet away on his behalf.

"It's just a throwback from the military, detective", she told him, "Nothing more".

Olsen ignored her comment as two more officers walked into the living room and the officer who was talking to Sonya left her to talk to them.

"Scott, you didn't see the body", Olsen went on talking to his past acquaintance in a lower voice even though he knew Sonya could still hear him, "The man's arms are torn off and it says 'you're next bitch' in his blood, so does your lady friend know anything?".

"How can you tear his arms off?", Scott curiously answered his question with a question of his own, "You're the strongest guy I know, detective, and I doubt that _you_ can do it".

"It's possible that both his hands were chained to two different cars and then both cars were driven away from each other", Olsen told him, "Either way, this guy didn't deserve to die like this".

As he made his last statement, one of the two officers who walked into the room approached Olsen and whispered into his ear for about half a minute. After hearing what he had to say, Olsen stared into midair for a few seconds, sighed and then looked at the officer to thank him for the information. While the officer walked out and the two others stayed behind, Olsen turned back to Scott.

"We found a footprint of a bare foot near the corpse. And it's over fifteen inches long. It doesn't even have five toes on it", he snickered as he announced, "So, do either of you know a guy who's between eight and ten feet tall? _That _should cut down the list of suspects".

"I've seen some big guys before, but not_ that_ big", Scott said.

While listening to Olsen's description of the footprint and the kind of person who would have left it, Sonya immediately thought of Goro. As the image of the four-armed Shokan Prince invaded her mind, she instinctively whispered Goro's name. Her whisper wasn't loud, but it was enough for Olsen to notice that she had said something.

"What was that?", he calmly faced her from several feet away.

"Nothing!", Sonya quickly answered him.

"Who would send you a message like this?", Olsen could see she wasn't being honest.

"I don't know!!", Sonya snapped back.

"You're hiding something!", Olsen raised his voice as he pointed his index finger at her.

"I DON'T KNOW!!!", she screamed with her eyes bulging wide.

"Look, detective", Scott interfered because he could see the interrogation was upsetting her, "If Sonya says she doesn't know, then she doesn't know. She wouldn't lie about something like this".

Olsen knew she was keeping something to herself, but he believed in Scott enough to know that he'd get more information from Sonya without pressuring her and by letting him get it.

"Fine", the detective told Scott, "But I _will _come back because I'm not done interrogating her. Come on, guys".

As he was headed for the door, he locked eyes with Sonya one more time.

"If you wanna get a lawyer, I suggest you do it, lady", was the only thing he said.

"Can I have my piece back?", Sonya asked out loud.

While going through the doorway, Olsen took her Glock and the evidence bag it was in out of his coat pocket and tossed it behind him on the floor. He didn't say anything else as he stepped outside and the two officers followed.

After all three men were through the doorway, Sonya closed the door behind them. She then stood in front of the door and stared at the wood as she passed both hands through her blonde hair and breathed heavily. Even though she had her back turned to Scott, he called her while still seated on the bed.

"Wadda hiding, Sonya?", he could see there was something on her mind despite the assurances he gave to Olsen.

Sonya figured there was no point in hiding her thoughts from him, so she turned around to look at him.

"Goro", she simply said after locking eyes with her fellow ex-commando.

"The guy you met on Shang Tsung's island?", Scott was surprised to hear the name, "But didn't you hear Olsen? The guy has to be between eight and ten feet tall!".

Scott laughed lightly when he was done mentioning the height, but Sonya's expression was very serious.

"Goro fits that description", she replied and bluntly caused him to stop laughing.

"_What_???", Scott couldn't believe her words.

Sonya took several quick steps towards him until she was by the side of the bed where he was seated. Standing in front of him, she bent over a bit and gently rested her left palm on his right cheek as she brought her face to within a few inches of his.

"Goro is between eight and ten feet tall _and_ he's strong enough to rip a man's arms off", she whispered by looking down into his eyes.

"What??", Scott was still skeptical as she withdrew her hand from his face, stood back up to her full height and walked a few steps away to pick up the Glock which was still on the floor.

"But... You said Johnny took him out!", Scott reasoned.

"I _thought_ he did!", Sonya countered without looking at him as she rested the handgun on a chair, "Goro chased him towards the cliff and only Johnny came back".

As she finished her statement, someone rang the doorbell. Sonya walked towards it and opened the door to see Johnny on the other side as he still wore his sunglasses.

"Hi, Sonya. You OK? It's a goddamn circus out front", he greeted her as he walked into the living room, "Those guys wouldn't let me come in here".

"How did you know something was going on?", Sonya asked him as she closed the door.

"_He_ called me", Johnny pointed at Scott, "What _is _going on? There was a body found outside?".

"Yeah", Sonya coldly told him and Johnny could see there was more on her mind.

"What?", he understandably demanded.

Sonya just stared at him for a few seconds without answering. She knew that Johnny would not have lied about what happened on the edge of the cliff. He had risked his life more than once at the tournament to help her, so she wanted to make sure her words did not come across as an accusation.

"Johnny", she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "I think Goro survived after he fell off the edge of the cliff".

"Huh?", he was astonished at her remark as he took his glasses off.

"The victim out there had his arms torn off", Sonya pointed outside the living room window, "They said they found a footprint that was over fifteen inches long and didn't even have five toes on it. There's also a message written in his blood that says 'you're next bitch'. I think it was him and he addressed it to me!".

"Look, let's not jump to conclusions here", Johnny held his hands up in front of his chest.

"What else could it be, Johnny?", she went on.

"Goro went over the cliff. It was at least a couple of hundred feet of freefall", he answered, "I don't care _who_ he was, he could _not_ have survived a fall like that".

"How do we know that?!", Sonya countered, "A person like_ us_ could not have survived! We don't know what that freak was made out of! If he had been around for the last ten generations, then who knows what other things he can do better than us?".

"He was around for the last _ten _generations?", Scott curiously interrupted them.

"Yeah", Sonya looked at him as she remembered the Prince of Pain, "He's been sitting there for centuries and just decimating people like us just for kicks".

"How old _was_ this guy?", Scott began to believe what Sonya was saying about Goro's chances of surviving the described fall.

"Older than everybody in this neighborhood put together", Johnny told him, "But still, he's _gone_! He could _not_ have survived the fall!".

"Don't ignore the obvious, Johnny!", Sonya aggressively countered him.

"If he _did_ survive, why wouldn't he have come after us? I'm sure he hated our guts after we drilled a hole through him", Johnny pointed out, "Why didn't he come after us, huh?".

"I don't know!", Sonya snapped.

"And why would he come after _you_?", Johnny also mentioned, "_I'm_ the one he should want to rip apart, not you! _I'm_ the one who kicked his ass, so why would he taunt _you_ like this?".

"When he jumps on me tomorrow when I'm taking a walk, I'll ask him, OK?", she was extremely annoyed that her fellow mortal kombatant didn't agree with her point of view.

"Look, sweetheart", Johnny was trying to reassure her that she was safe, "Nobody's gonna get jumped tomorrow because for all we know.....".

"_Don't_ call me _sweetheart_!!!!!", Sonya barked back while her enraged eyes were locked with his calm ones.

The aggression in her voice genuinely caught Johnny by surprise, so the actor smiled at himself for a split second after he realized the treatment he was getting. The smile quickly melted and his face then became much more serious.

"Don't talk to _me_ that way!!", he angrily snapped back at her as he pressed his right thumb into his own chest, "If it wasn't for me, you'd be lying in Outworld somewhere and insects would've been eating whatever was left of your body by now!!".

"Oh!!", Sonya gave a sarcastic smile, "What is that? That's like your only claim to fame nowadays?? If you hadn't come along, Liu would've done just _fine_ without you!!".

"Guys! GUYS!!", Scott yelled as he looked up to them from his bed in order to keep the argument from getting any worse.

His tactic worked because Sonya and Johnny stopped and stared down at him with an irate expression.

"Come on, guys!! What's going on??", Scott addressed them both, "Don't you remember how well we did together when Kline attacked the House of Representatives? We were an awesome team! The three of us are best friends! So stop biting each other, for crying out loud, because we're all we've got!".

"OK, fine", Sonya bluntly stated as she held her hands up in front of her chest before she partly turned around and took several steps away from Johnny.

Johnny, in his turn, simply stood his ground with his arms crossed in front of his chest and kept staring at her with an angry facial expression.

"Look, I'm gonna leave", he told Scott more than her, "If _somebody _here feels like acting her age, you guys know where to reach me".

He lowered his arms and headed for the door while he and Sonya still exchanged furious glances, although neither one said anything out loud. Scott wanted to stop him from going, but he had no idea what he should say to persuade him into staying. He was still wondering about possible things to say when Johnny went through the door and slammed it behind him. Seeing that, Sonya walked past Scott's bed to head for her bedroom.

"Well, _that_ was a good experience", she sarcastically said to herself and to Scott.

"Look.....", Scott wanted to say she should give him a call when the sun rises to make amends.

"_He_ started it!!!", Sonya snapped and cut him off as she pointed towards the door.

"I don't _care _who started it!!", Scott countered, raising his voice also.

"Oh! Don't_ you_ start with me too!", she replied before she headed for her room and slammed the door behind her

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

Before 8:00 AM, the phone rang and woke both Scott and Sonya up. Scott opened his eyes by the third ring and grudgingly sat up in bed. He could see through the living room window that it was cloudy outside. He reached for and picked up the phone as he wondered who would be calling as such an early time. He put the phone to his ear and spoke into it. As he was listening as whomever was on the other line, Sonya almost burst out of her bedroom barefoot and rushed over to the foot of his bed. Scott looked up to her as he was listening to the person on the other end.

"Johnny?", she whispered to him, wondering whether it was her fellow mortal kombatant on the phone.

Scott shook his head and disappointed her. He kept listening to the caller with an unhappy look.

"Yeah, it's me", he spoke into it after a few seconds before listening again.

"OK. I'll be here", was the next thing he said before he hung up and looked up at Sonya.

"Who was it?", she curiously asked.

"I knew this would happen sooner or later", Scott just answered.

"What?", she kept asking because he seemed worried.

"That was our beloved Army calling. They wanna send some guys here to, quote unquote, discuss possible future plans for me", he told her, "Which means, of course, I'm getting the boot and a brush off".

"You think they're gonna make you retire?".

"Correction", Scott went on, "I _know_ they're gonna make me retire. I'm useless now, remember?".

He slapped his right thigh with his hand as he made his last statement.

"Do you _wanna_ stay?", Sonya planned to be supportive if he needed her help.

"Of course", was his expected answer.

"If you wanna stay, then you're staying", she didn't want him to feel gloomy, "I _know_ you'll be able to go back to the way you were before you got shot".

"Thanks for the optimism", he replied as he kept staring at her.

Scott could see his future in the military was not the only thing on Sonya's mind.

"What about you, though?", he asked her, "You _really_ wanted that caller to be Johnny, didn't you?".

"Maybe", Sonya tried to pretend she wasn't very interested in what he was saying.

"No. _Definitely_", Scott corrected her, "Look, Sonya. Call him. You don't necessarily have to apologize. Just tell him you didn't mean what you said earlier this morning and I'm sure he'll say the same. Johnny's a real friend, and real friends are_ very_ rare, you know that. He went against Kline with us just because you wanted him to while everyone else would've told us to drop dead".

Sonya knew he spoke the truth, but her ego was making it hard for her to make the first move. Realizing it, Scott went on encouraging her.

"Why do you think he came by after I called him?", he added, "He got out of bed at three in the morning because he was worried about you. There wasn't anything in it for him except his peace of mind when he saw you OK... Besides, why do you think he bought you that new Glock? You're unemployed and you lost a six hundred dollar pistol. You _know _he wasn't sucking up because he wanted to use you for a favor or anything like that. We don't have _anything_ that he can't buy, so he has to be doing it because he genuinely cares".

"I know! I know! Just stop the lecture!", Sonya had heard enough, "We should put this living room in order if these Army guys are gonna come by to see you".

She helped him up to his feet and towards his walker before she folded his bed back to its original couch position. She then went into the kitchen and made one ham and cheese sandwich for him and one for herself. After walking back into the living room, she handed one of the sandwiches to him.

"Breakfast is the _most_ important meal of the day, you know", she said as she took a bite out of her own sandwich, "So eat up"...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over an hour passed as they ate a few sandwiches and drank all the fruit juice and soda they wanted. Near 9:30 AM, someone rang the doorbell and Sonya promptly answered it. Scott was seated on a chair on the side of the living room opposite to the door with his walker next to him. Two Army officers in their late thirties stood rigidly on the other side of the doorway as she opened.

"I'm sergeant Greensburg and this is sergeant Spayne", the first officer told her as he pointed at the man next to him, "May we come in?".

"Sure", Sonya flatly answered as she stood aside, still barefoot.

After the two men entered, she closed the door behind them.

"What's the body outline out front?", Spayne asked first.

"It's a long story", Sonya answered with a fake smile.

"So what is about, guys?", Scott asked the two men.

"I'll make it short and sweet, son", Greensburg told him from across the living room, "We request that you agree to leave the U.S. Army after the incident which put you in this condition".

"I don't suppose I get a say in what happens", Scott told him.

"It's be much easier if you went along with it. For everyone. It's an honorable discharge", Greensburg looked at Sonya, "Not like some _others_ we have seen".

Sonya made a face so he would know her smile was insincere when he made the comment about her.

"And what am I supposed to do with my life afterwards?", Scott pressed on, "Can you tell me _that_?".

"That, of course, is up to you", Greensburg calmly responded.

"Look, guys", Scott sighed, "I really _would_ prefer to stay. The military's been my life for a while now. I already took a step without this walker here and the doctor said I'd _never_ be able to do that. I _can_ go back to where I was before".

"We would much rather prefer you did it our way, son", Greensburg calmly went on, making Scott feel like he was arguing with a wall.

"Give the guy a break!", Sonya spoke up to Greensburg on Scott's behalf.

"Oh!", Greensburg answered sarcastically as he stared at her, "The infamous Sonya Blade actually speaks!".

Sonya widened her eyes in response to the unflattering comment and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"You're in _my _home", she sharply warned Greensburg, "So lose the sarcasm if you wanna keep your head, tough guy!".

"Correction. We're in your daddy's home, blondie", Greensburg retaliated, "Big difference. Why are _you_ fighting for him anyway?".

"Because he wants to stay", Sonya replied, "And he's very strong, unlike you!".

"Resorting to insults now?", Greensburg seemed unimpressed.

"Scott came to within half an inch of getting killed to protect this government system", she said, "The least this government could do would be to give him some time to recover and to go back to the state he was before so he can keep his position. Is that too much to ask for?".

"_You're_ one to talk about loyalty!", Greensburg was annoyed, "You were discharged, and with a bad-conduct discharge too!".

"Hey!", Sonya pointed her right index finger at him, "I was discharged because I did the right thing. Something you guys didn't have the guts to do!".

"No, _Blade_!", Greensburg barked back, "You were discharged because you wouldn't follow orders!".

"Wait a minute! Is _that_ what this is about?", Sonya pointed her index at Scott, "The fact that he took _me_ with him when he went to stop the militants?".

"Get real, Blade", Greensburg told her, "Contrary to your beliefs, not everything in this world revolves around you".

Greensburg pointed at Scott in his own turn, making the ex-commando feel like he was a dart board.

"He should retire because he's no longer useful", Greensburg then said as he faced Scott, "No offense intended".

There was a few seconds of silence that followed his comment.

"Well, that's all we had to say. We just want you to think about it and... ", Greensburg went on as he sighed, "We'll be in touch".

With that, Greensburg turned around and headed for the door as Spayne followed a few feet away.

"You're incredible!", Sonya addressed Greensburg as he was on his way out, "You're really incredible!".

"Oh, pipe down, Blade. Why the hell are you being so aggressive?", Greensburg replied as he opened the door and chuckled, "Is it your time of the month or something?".

He chuckled harder and walked out still followed by a quiet Spayne. After they were gone, Sonya grabbed the door and swung it shut. Although the door almost closed, her swing wasn't strong enough to lock it from the outside. Sonya left it like that and walked up to Scott as she felt disappointed with herself because she couldn't do more for him.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna KILL HIM!", Scott angrily announced as she reached him.

He stood up using his walker for balance as Sonya stepped in front of him and put her hands palm-down on his chest.

"Calm down, Scott", she tried to relax him, "If you do, the best you can hope for is voluntary manslaughter. Think of how bad that would look on your criminal record".

Realizing that he was more upset than she was, Scott reluctantly sat back down.

"I'm gonna rip his balls off with my bare hands", he told himself.

"Uggh!", Sonya cringed at his comment.

Since the door wasn't locked from the outside, sergeant Spayne opened it alone and took two steps inside. Sonya stood next to Scott's chair and faced the door as they both saw him.

"I'm sorry about that, miss. That guy _always_ had an attitude problem", Spayne addressed her, "For yet the millionth time, I must apologize on his behalf".

"Don't worry about it", Sonya shrugged her shoulders to let him know it didn't bother her, "I've seen his type before".

"Yeah. We used to _serve _under his type before", Scott told Spayne.

"Good luck", Spayne looked at them both.

"Thanks", Sonya gave him a genuine smile before he turned around and left without closing the door behind him.

"I'm _no_ longer useful, huh?", Scott looked down on the floor after Spayne was gone, "Isn't _that _what the other one said?".

"_Forget_ him! He's _nobody_!", Sonya defiantly answered, "He's just shooting his mouth off because he wants to pretend that he has some purpose in life".

Scott didn't reply and just kept staring at the floor. She could see Greensburg's words were affecting him and she didn't like. She took a step to position herself in front of his chair to face him. She then squatted down and took his right hand in between both her own hands.

"I'll be _damned_ if I'm gonna sit here and just let you feel sorry for yourself!", she said in a stern voice to make him look up at her, "This is how it starts, Scott! First, it's 'Oh! Poor me! Nothing ever goes right for me!'. Then you remember that nothing has gone right throughout your entire life. Then you ask yourself that if your life so far has been lousy, then why should the rest of your life be different? Then depression sets in and then we'll see your picture in the paper. I can see the headline now. 'Deranged Man Walks Into Store With 9mm And Pops 30 Before Turning Gun Onto Himself'".

"I never knew you cared what happened to me", Scott gave a tired smile.

"I don't", Sonya smiled back, "But if you're not here, then I won't have anything to do and I'll get bored".

"Hey, I _told_ you back in Hong Kong that you'd be famous one day", Scott went on, "See? That moron knows you".

As they were talking, Herman Blade walked through the open doorway into the living room. He was dressed in his official Army uniform like the two sergeants who had just left.

"That was a _long_ conference!", he wearily told them both as he closed the door behind him, "And I have to go back too".

"How long can you stay, daddy?", Sonya asked him as he loosened his tie.

"Not long", he informed her, "I just came by to get a bite to eat and I have to run. I ran into two sergeants on my way here. Funny guys... Let me ask you something. Why is the door open?".

"Oh, we were just getting some fresh air", Sonya smiled.

"And what about the chalk outline that's in front of this place?", Herman Blade pointed out the door as he stared at her.

"There was a random murder", Sonya lied, "We have no idea how. The police are still investigating".

"You shouldn't leave the door open in times like this", her father warned her as he hurried into the kitchen.

While he was in the kitchen preparing some sandwiches for himself, Sonya told herself she was fortunate since he hadn't noticed that the chalk outline had no arms. A few minutes later, Herman Blade brought three sandwiches on a plate and a glass of beer to the living room and began to eat standing up.

"Listen, daddy", Sonya reasoned he could help, "I think the Army is gonna try to kick Scott out and he doesn't wanna leave. Can you use some of your influence to keep him in?".

Scott didn't want her mentioning his affairs to her father even though she wanted to go straight to the point. Her father seemed reluctant to answer, so Scott stood up using his walker to tell them he did not want them to interfere. He wanted to spare Sonya's father from having to say 'no'.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea", Herman Blade told his daughter before Scott could speak.

"Why _not_? You're a major! You can do it!", Sonya persisted without looking at Scott.

Her father put the plate and glass down on a small table and swallowed whatever he had in his mouth.

"I can't do it because I used my influence to get you accepted into the Hong Kong base and you got yourself kicked out", he reluctantly told his daughter, "So my reputation doesn't mean much right now".

His words caught Sonya unprepared.

"What?? That colonel at the base was _right_?!...", she was shocked, "I thought I got in there by _myself_!".

"They_ were_ interested in having you there, sweetie,_ until_ they found out lieutenant Blade was a woman", her father went on, "Then they started making excuses as to why they couldn't accept you and those excuses got more lame every time I heard them... You wouldn't have gotten in if it wasn't for me. I didn't want to tell you that".

"You're telling me I wasn't good enough for Hong Kong?", she felt very worthless.

Scott could see it, so he finally spoke up.

"Come on, Sonya, get real!", he figured it was his turn to cheer her up, "You were the best thing that ever happened to that base. They were _lucky_ to have you!".

He looked at her father as he continued.

"No one else there had the guts to do what she did", he told Herman Blade, "Not Jax, not me and certainly not that prick that we served under... Going after Kano was the right thing to do! There's no telling how many lives you saved when you took him out".

Her father's eyes widened when he heard Scott's words.

"Took Kano _out_??", he repeated as he stared at his daughter.

After hearing Scott, Sonya covered her face with both her palms and arched her head back. She had been waiting for the appropriate time to tell her father about her killings in Hong Kong and on Shang Tsung's island.

"I thought you got kicked out because you disobeyed the colonel's orders", her father addressed her with his eyes still wide, "What is this about you taking somebody out?... Taking somebody _out_? As in_ murdering_ somebody?".

"Come on, sir", Scott addressed him to intervene on her behalf, "They deserved it".

"_They_???", Herman Blade's eyes got even wider, "There was _more _than one???".

"Shut up, will you?!", Sonya pulled her hands off her face and snapped at Scott.

"Look, you did the right thing!", Scott kept reassuring her, "It's nothing to be ashamed of".

"Well, you better keep reminding me of my selfless act when you and I are standing in the goddamn unemployment line!", she responded.

She was mildly annoyed that Scott told her father about her actions. She had been planning to break the news to her father after being alone with him and describing what Kano and his men did to her and her comrades. Her response to Scott, though, sounded a lot more cruel than she intended. Scott felt the hit as they locked eyes.

"A job can be replaced", he calmly answered, sounding disappointed, "If you hadn't gone after Kano, you wouldn't be able to live with yourself. You would've lost your identity. Your identity _can't_ be replaced!".

Sonya didn't reply and her father decided to stay quiet also since he saw the argument as being between her and Scott. After a few seconds of uneasy silence, Scott spoke first.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, sir", he addressed her father, "I need to get something to eat".

He wasn't hungry. He just wanted an excuse to go to the kitchen to break the cold stare he was being forced to exchange with his former partner in the Special Forces. As Scott slowly used his walker to go into the kitchen, Herman Blade turned his attention back to his daughter without the shocked expression on his face.

"I'll tell you about it some other time, daddy, I promise", Sonya told him, "Just not now".

Without saying anything else, she turned away from him and headed for the couch under which a pair of her sneakers lay.

"I just need to be alone", she said next.

"Don't bother", her father answered, "I'm leaving anyway".

Sonya stopped and turned around to face him again.

"You didn't eat your food", she sounded sad because she didn't want him to leave on her account.

"That's OK", he reassured her, "I'll catch something downtown at the meeting. They're giving us several days of meals and lodging at some hotel... I don't know exactly when I'll come back, but we'll talk when I do, OK?".

"OK, daddy", she said in response.

Her father left the sandwiches and the glass on the small table and walked over to her as she stood still. He kissed her on the forehead before saying good-bye and heading outside the door. After he was gone, Sonya sat on the couch without picking up the sneakers she wanted. She rested her elbows on her knees and placed her forehead in her palms, thus lowering her head.

"How could I _talk_ to him like that?", she asked herself referring to Scott.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After feeling bad for several more minutes, she puts the sneakers on, walked outside without telling Scott where she was headed and closed the door behind her. She couldn't see the sun or any patch of blue because the entire sky was covered with a thick blanket of clouds. She noticed it was too chilly to be wearing just shorts and a T-shirt, but she didn't go back home to put anything else on.

Thus, she wandered around the city for several hours without even keeping a track of time since she wasn't wearing a wristwatch. She didn't stop to eat anything at all and only concentrated in exhausting herself by staying on her feet. She only returned home after the sun had set and it was dark out. The door was closed but not locked from inside, so she twisted the knob and was able to open it. After she stepped in, she noticed Scott was sitting in his bed watching the television set because the couch was already unfolded into the bed position.

"Did Johnny call, by any chance?", she asked him as she closed the door behind her.

"No", Scott bluntly answered without taking his eyes off the TV screen.

"How'd you do_ that_?", she pointed at the unfolded bed before she headed for the kitchen to satisfy her deep craving for food.

"With patience", Scott replied still without looking at her, "I guess I _am_ getting better".

Neither one smiled or said anything else as she headed through the living room towards the kitchen.

She made herself two sandwiches and ate them standing up in the kitchen. The sandwiches were usually tasty, but in her current state of mind after fighting with Johnny and then Scott, they tasted like acid in her throat as she swallowed every bite.

Afterwards, she decided she had enough of the day and went straight for her bedroom to hopefully fall asleep fast. She said nothing to Scott as she went into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was asleep after what she considered to be a short while. In the middle of the night, though, she suddenly woke up for no apparent reason. She had the same feeling she remembered experiencing the previous day when she found the dead body outside her home and under the streetlight. Afraid, she didn't bother to reach for the wristwatch under the side of the bed. Instead, she instantly pulled the Glock out from under her pillow. In a panicked state, she jumped out of bed and rushed over to the window. She was angered and nervous, though not surprised, because she saw a second body under the same streetlight where the first one had been.

"No! He didn't!!", she exclaimed, referring to Goro.

She bolted out of her bedroom and into the living room still gripping the Glock in her right hand. As she opened the door, Scott woke up from his sleep and looked up at her drowsily from several feet away in the darkness.

"Sonya, what's wrong?", he asked, feeling worried.

"Call the cops!", Sonya almost yelled as she momentarily turned away from the door.

"What?", Scott was still sleepy.

"Call the goddamn police!!", Sonya went on as she turned the living room light on.

She ran outside barefoot with the handgun, as compared to the previous day when she had proceeded outside slowly and carefully. She rushed towards the body and stopped cold as she got to within a few feet away. From the close distance, she could clearly see this man's arms were missing as well. The second body was partly on the chalk outline of the previous one.

Sonya was just staring at the second corpse with the Glock in her right hand by her side when she unexpectedly saw a four-armed shadow. The shadow of a massive torso and four arms appeared at her right under the streetlight, so that the person who was causing the shadow was standing a few feet behind her.

"AAAAGGGGHHH!!!", she angrily and quickly twisted around while leveling the handgun at arm's length in front of her face.

She expected to see Goro right behind her, so she opened fire as soon as she was facing the area which was in back of her. She pulled the trigger at least half a dozen times before she realized there was no one behind her. She was alone and she had put several rounds into a car that was parked ten yards away.

"Huh?", she froze with the handgun still extended at arm's length in front of her face.

Sonya was extremely confused and scared. While she was wondering about what she thought she had seen behind her, a massive hand covered her eyes and pulled her head backwards, pressing the back of her head against a muscular body behind her. As that happened, another massive hand grabbed her right wrist, thus making it impossible for her to use the Glock she was holding at arm's length in front of her face. She desperately resisted by using her left hand to try to pull the massive hand off her face. Her attempts were not successful since the person holding her was much stronger than she was. As she was still trying to fight back, she heard Goro's voice emanating from above her.

"Be at the graveyard, alone, or more will die", the voice bluntly told her.

Then, as abruptly as they had appeared, the massive hands vanished and the pressure on her face and right wrist disappeared with them. Sonya hysterically turned around and realized she was all alone. She was still aiming the handgun at arm's length in front of her face and breathing hard when she heard a police siren approaching. She then reluctantly lowered her right hand and waited for the police to arrive. She felt like she was going out of her mind.

When detective Olsen and some officers were in her living room for the second time in two days, Sonya was very shaken up. She now knew for sure that the two men had been killed simply to get her attention. She did not want to talk to anybody and said so as soon as detective Olsen asked her the first question. Scott was upset, as would be expected, but he was more coherent than her as he spoke to the officers while sitting on the edge of the bed.

"We know now that it aien't a coincidence, right?", Olsen addressed Scott as he stood at the foot of his bed.

"Do you know anything that you're not telling us?", Olsen next looked at Sonya who was several feet away with her back to the open door, "We're _really_ desperate here".

Sonya had been aggravated ever since she saw the second body and the presence of the police officers in her home only worsened her condition.

"I DON'T KNOW WHY HE'S DOING THIS!! I... DON'T... FUCKING... KNOW!!", she screamed back as she slammed her right fist on the table her father had set the food on several few hours before.

"Calm down, miss", Olsen politely answered, "Nobody's accusing you of anything".

Despite the detective's excellent behavior, Sonya lost any common sense she had in her mind after hearing his response. She swiftly gripped the handle of her Glock and aimed the muzzle straight at Olsen's chest. Olsen tightened his jaw and coldly looked back without moving as uniformed police officers in the living room quickly withdrew and aimed their Smith & Wesson pistol at her.

"Don't shoot!! Please don't shoot!!", Scott yelled out at the uniformed officers

"Shang Tsung was a shapeshifter!!", Sonya's voice shook with fear as she looked at Olsen, "How do I know _you're_ not like him, too, huh? How do I know you're not _him_?".

Scott uneasily stood up as he used detective Olsen for support. Once on his feet, he stood up straight and positioned himself directly in front of Olsen, thus protecting him from her semiautomatic.

"Put'em down, guys, please!", Scott motioned at the uniformed officers, "Look, if she opens fire, _I'm_ the one who'll buy the farm, so _I'm_ asking you to put the guns down! Please! She can't go like this!".

None of the uniformed officers lowered their weapons and neither did Sonya as she still had the handgun aimed at Scott while her hand shook steadily. Just then, Johnny came through the door and surprised everyone from behind her. Hearing him, Sonya instantly turned around and aimed the semiautomatic at him. Staring down the muzzle of the Glock he had bought her, Johnny stopped cold.

"Oh, Jesus!", he whispered.

Johnny was scared because, when he stared into Sonya's eyes, he didn't see the same controlled look she had when she was on Shang Tsung's boat. Instead, rage and a loss of control seemed to take over the expression on her face and especially in her eyes. Seeing Johnny, Sonya then turned back to Scott.

"Come on, lieutenant", Scott tried to persuade her to put the handgun down before one of the uniformed officers became nervous, "You're not gonna shoot your own sidekick, are you?".

She didn't even seem to hear his words as her right hand and the Glock shook more violently. Seeing it, Johnny took a step towards her. She turned around again to aim the handgun at him. While the Glock was still shaking, he calmly took two more steps and then came close enough to her to wrap his left fingers around the muzzle of the Glock. She didn't resist as he slowly took the 9mm semiautomatic out of her hand.

"It's OK", he whispered to her as Scott and the uniformed officers sighed in relief.

Realizing Sonya was a mess, Scott shakily turned around to face detective Olsen before he sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you trust me, detective?", he asked by looking up at Olsen.

"Yeah", Olsen bluntly replied while still staring at Sonya and Johnny.

"I wanna ask you to leave, detective", Scott politely told him next.

"No way!", Olsen protested by looking down at him, "I still wanna question her about the _first _murder! She fired several shot into a car just for the hell of it! If she had hit someone's home instead, she could've killed somebody!".

"I know! I know, detective", Scott knew he had to get rid of Olsen for everyone's sake, "I came through for you before, didn't I? I promise I'll let you know_ everything_ I know as soon as I make some sense of this. But you have to let me do it, _please_!".

Olsen didn't answer.

"She's a mess, detective", Scott reminded him, "She's not gonna talk to you now. And she can only be a problem".

"Allright, _fine_!", Olsen pointed his index finger down at Scott, "But I'm putting my ass on the line here for you by leaving this alone. If you don't come through, I'll put the entire system after you. You won't have time to sleep for the next forty years!".

"Thanks detective", Scott smiled.

With that, Olsen gathered his uniformed officers and reluctantly headed out the door. As they were walking out, Johnny made sure to stay near Sonya so she wouldn't become violent again. There was no need for it since she seemed to regain her senses as the officers were leaving.

After they were all gone, Johnny closed the door and both guys looked at Sonya, knowing there was a serious problem with the murders as well as with her.

"So", Johnny asked first while still holding on to her semiautomatic, "You OK?".

She didn't answer.

"What happened out there?", he asked next.

"Goro's back", she simply stated to them both in a tired voice.

"Come on, Sonya, listen to what you're saying", Johnny did not think so, "I don't know who's doing this, but it _can't_ be Goro".

"It's him", Sonya quickly responded, "I _know_ it's him. I saw his _shadow _behind me and when I turned around, he was gone".

"Look, you've been really stressed out lately", Johnny tried to calm her down, "It's possible your imagination......".

It was clear from his tone of voice that he did not believe her, so she did not tell him about the massive hands that grabbed her face and wrist.

"Oh, so you think I'm just making all this up?!", she angrily snapped back, "Maybe I was the one who killed those two guys because I just wanted the attention, is_ that_ what you're thinking?".

"That's _not_ what I said", Johnny forcibly responded as he pointed to Scott, "But you were ready to blow him away when I walked in. Doesn't that say anything to you?".

"OK, fine!!", Sonya became even angrier, "Maybe I should be locked up in a mental institution then for that one screw-up!".

Johnny sighed without answering.

"You know what? _I_ need to work out", Sonya coldly told them both, "If you don't wanna help, then you know where the fucking door is!! Just leave the Glock here on your way out".

"Sonya, come on!", Johnny protested as she turned away from them and headed for a back room where she had her old workout equipment.

When she heard him, she abruptly turned around.

"No!!", she barked, "I thought I had a couple of people that I could count on in this world! I guess not! Why don't the two of you just leave me the fuck alone?!! Just get lost, the both of you!!".

She had completely forgotten that Scott couldn't walk yet as she then turned away again and headed for the back room.

"You're blowing this way out of proportion!", Johnny called out after her as she vanished through one of the doors to the back room.

When she was gone from the living room Johnny put the Glock on the table and looked at Scott.

"She really is", he continued his previous statement to him.

"I know", Scott responded, "Look, she didn't mean what she said. That was just her emotions talking".

"What she's saying about Goro is impossible", Johnny explained both to him and to himself, "He was behind her and then he was gone when she turned around? Goro's dead! And even if he had miraculously survived that fall, how could he pull off a stunt like this? If he _was_ actually behind her, then he _wouldn't_ be able to run and hide while she turned around! The guy weighs like a ton. The entire neighborhood would've heard him if he ran somewhere".

"So, what's really goin' on here?", Scott curiously asked.

"I dunno", Johnny went on as he rubbed his forehead, "I wish Rayden was here so he'd tell us what....".

He froze in midsentence.

"What?", Scott pressed on.

"I just had this brainstorm", Johnny explained, "There was this guy at the tournament called Scorpion. When I fought with him, he seemed to have this ability to just vanish so you wouldn't know where he was... After the tournament, Rayden told me he was a ghost. But Scorpion was _my_ size, not Goro's".

He stopped for a few seconds.

"You know what?", he resumed, "I wanna call somebody over here".

"Who? The ghostbusters?", Scott snickered.

"No", Johnny told him, "Somebody with at lot more class. Liu was there with us and he's in Hong Kong now. I have his number. I can call him up and send my private jet over there to pick him up. I'm sure he'll want to come if he knows that one of us is in trouble".

"You think it's a good idea?", Scott wanted him to be sure.

"Yeah", the mortal kombatant answered as he hurriedly headed for the door, "I'm gonna give a picture I have of Liu to my pilot so he'll recognize him in Hong Kong. I can have him here in twenty four hours. Thanks for calling me after the police, Scott".

"No problem", Scott told him, "I'm glad I did. You probably saved her from getting shot up just now".

"Make sure to keep an eye on her, OK?", Johnny looked back at him as he opened the door.

"Sure thing", was Scott's comment right before Johnny left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few seconds after Johnny was gone, Scott began to hear solid explosions from the back room where Sonya was. From the sound of it, he recognized that she was striking the punching bag he had seen there when he first came here from Hong Kong. Sonya kept taking her anger out on the punching bag as the loud strikes continued nonstop for at least ten more minutes...

Suddenly, Scott heard a crash and the strikes on the punching bag ceased. For a short while, he was worried that she got hurt, but she resumed a few seconds afterwards. This time, though, the strikes were less noisy and more muffled. Scott heard over a dozen muffled hits before he realized how they were originating. Sonya was punching the wall of the back room with her bare hands. A few seconds later, he panicked a little because he also remembered that the walls of the back room were made out of solid brick. He wanted to intervene, but then decided to leave her alone. After all, he reasoned, if Sonya didn't want to do it, she would stop...

The muffled hits lasted several more minutes and Sonya finally emerged from the back room. She first slipped quietly into her bedroom and retrieved a clean pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She then walked into the living room on her way towards a small hallway that led to the bathroom. The upper part of both her hands on the opposite side of the palm were light red because the skin had been torn off in those areas. Her ten fingers were more damaged than the rest of her hands because her fingers had impacted against the wall as she punched it using a fist. Her hair was a mess and her eyes seemed sleepy and exhausted.

"Sonya", Scott noticed her injured hands first, "You need to get something for that".

She didn't answer.

"It could get infected", Scott warned again.

"I need a shower", she whispered and staggered by the edge of the living room to get to the hallway.

"What happened in there?", he called after her as she was walking away.

"The chain for the punching bag broke", she spoke more to herself than to him, "So I improvised... I need a shower".

That was all Scott heard because she then stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. He couldn't help but worry about her as he heard the shower water turning on.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After about ten minutes, Scott heard the shower water stop and saw Sonya emerge from the bathroom wearing the new shorts and T-shirt. When she walked back into the living room, Scott was amazed at the difference in her appearance. Her blonde hair was smoothly combed and tied with a knot at the back of her head. Her eyes also had the calm and bright look that Scott had been used to seeing ever since they met.

First thing she did once in the living room was find the pair of sneakers that were always placed around a couch for her. Immediately after putting them on her bare feet, she quietly walked back into her bedroom as if Scott wasn't even there. She emerged a few seconds afterwards holding a pair of scissors and a long strip of cloth that was about an inch wide.

Sonya began to carefully and tightly wrap the cloth around her right hand. After the right hand was satisfactorily bandaged, she cut the remaining strip of cloth with the scissors. She then went through the same process for her left hand. If the procedure hurt, Scott didn't view it on her face. She then cut the last piece of cloth that was not necessary to cover her left hand and let both the cloth and the scissors drop on the floor.

Sonya then reached for the table where Johnny had set the Glock before he left. She checked the clip to reassure that the remaining bullets were still inside it.

"Wadda you doin'?", Scott finally asked her, unable to keep himself quiet.

"Do you trust _me_, Scott?", Sonya repeated the question he had asked detective Olsen as she headed for the door with her semiautomatic.

"Yeah", Scott promptly answered.

She stopped as she opened the door. She could see the sun was about to rise before she turned around to look at Scott's bed.

"Then don't ask any questions", she calmly told him.

Scott didn't respond. He only stared at her knowing he couldn't stop her from leaving if she wanted to. Sonya, in the meanwhile, had her eyes locked with his. She knew she had sounded cold and maybe even cruel when she didn't mean to. The eye stare between them went on for several more seconds before she spoke again.

"I _could_ use a hug", Sonya told him in a more gentle voice, "Can I have one?".

"Sure", Scott extended both his hands out as he was seated on the edge of the bed.

Sonya let the Glock slip out of her hands and fall in front of the open door before she took several quick steps towards him. Upon reaching him, she knelt in front of him to bring her face to the same level as his. They embraced each other without saying anything else. She rested her head on his right shoulder as she wrapped both arms around his back for several heartbeats. She didn't want to let him go because it was the first time she had felt at peace ever since she found the first body outside. She knew she had to, though, so she slowly pulled away from him while still staying on her knees to look him in the eyes from several inches away.

"Sonya, don't....", Scott spoke first after they had separated.

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, she placed her right index and middle fingers on his lips.

"I _have_ to go", she somberly whispered, "He told me where. It's _me_ he wants and I wanna know _why_. If I don't go alone, more are gonna get killed".

"What can you do?!!", he whispered back in a loud manner.

"I'm gonna see if I can find Goro", she calmly let him know.

"And what happens afterwards?", he demanded.

"I'm gonna tell him that I mistreated two guys who were better friends to me than I could _ever_ deserve", she calmly responded.

"Are you scared?", he asked next.

"Not anymore", she gave him the hint of a smile.

She quietly stood back up and walked out the door after she picked up the Glock as well as her father's car keys. She left Scott as he was almost in tears because he had a feeling he was never going to see her alive again.

"Well, _I _am", he told her after she closed the door and was already outside.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya opened the car's driver side door and tossed the Glock on the front passenger seat. Goro had told her to show up at the graveyard. There was only one graveyard around her home that she could thing of, so she started the car and drove for the cemetery. She was bracing herself for a confrontation.

She reached the cemetery which was over a mile away just as the first rays of the sun appeared over the surrounding structures. After she stopped and parked the car, she walked out holding the handgun behind her with her right hand. The cemetery had several entrances, so she hurried towards the nearest one in order to lessen the odds of being spotted. Once inside, she carefully made her way through the tombstones by holding the semiautomatic with both hands at arm's length in front of her face. Her hands ached as she gripped the handle of the pistol, but she ignored the pain for now.

Several minutes passed without her seeing or hearing anything other than small birds and insects. While still keeping her senses sharp in the crisp air, she slowly began to think about the families and friends the two men that Goro had killed must have left behind. She knew that when one person killed another, there were always many more people who were affected. Those two men were forced to leave their loved ones just like Kano's victims were forced to. The anger inside her was creeping back as she kept telling herself those victims died simply because someone had decided to have fun.

"I'm the one you want!", she exclaimed out loud as she steadily twisted around so no one would be able to sneak up on her, "Come on! Face me!".

Just then, a gigantic brown hand with three fingers grabbed both her wrists from behind her even though she was twisting around. As she gasped after seeing the immense hand immobilize her hands, another brown hand gripped the Glock with two fingers and tossed it several yards away. After putting the semiautomatic beyond her reach, the powerful brown hand released her wrists and Sonya bolted several steps forward. She twisted around and positioned herself in a fighting stance as she finally saw who the hands belonged to.

The eight and a half foot tall Prince of Shokan stood his ground with a small grin on his face. His 550 pound and four-armed body seemed relaxed and he didn't try to attack.

"Allright, tough guy!", Sonya defiantly snapped at him, "So you made me lose my piece. But you'll see this aien't gonna be easy. Come on!!".

She had expected him to charge at her, but Goro didn't move. In fact, he appeared to be enjoying as he watched her in a tense position.

"Well, come on!!", Sonya almost screamed, "This is what you wanted, isn't it??".

"Not now", Goro motioned her back with his right arms.

"Then when??", Sonya angrily demanded without relaxing herself from the fighting stance she was in.

"In exactly forty eight hours", Goro told her, "Right here..._ Then_ you'll get what's coming to you".

With those words, he laughed and disappeared as he stood in front of her. Sonya couldn't believe her own eyes as she saw him vanish into thin air. Thinking it was a trick, she turned around while still in a stance because she believed he would attack from behind her. Contrary to her expectation, though, Goro was nowhere to be seen.

After a few more minutes alone among the tombstones, Sonya rushed to the spot her Glock had landed. She picked it up and ran out of the cemetery towards her waiting car.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Sonya was driving back home, she realized she was approaching flashing police lights. She slowed down the car after seeing two men in the middle of the near-deserted street next to a patrol car that was glittering red and blue lights. One of the two men was lying on the ground while the other was a young police officer who stood over him talking into a two way radio. She guessed that the police officer was probably younger than her.

"....he was strangled by a juvenile, fifteen to eighteen, about five eight, wearing blue jeans and a leather jacket!", the officer screamed into his radio, "I want an ambulance here now!".

The young officer then dropped the radio in the middle of the street and knelt next to the other man. He frantically began to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Even though she would've been interested in what she was seeing, Sonya found the whole scene boring because her mind was still back at the cemetery with Goro.

"Is this gonna make me late?", she asked herself as she watched the officer endlessly work on the victim.

She felt like telling the officer to get out of the way because she wanted to go home, but one look into his face told her he should not be messed with. So, as she heard the sirens of an ambulance quickly approaching, she reversed the car and found another, though longer, way home.

She came home about thirty minutes later. After parking the car, she casually got out while holding the pistol down by her waistline and walked towards the front door. She used one of the keys that was attached to the car keys and opened it. Proceeding inside, she saw Scott was still awake, as she expected. Although he was lying on the bed on his back, her partner from the Special Forces sprung up to a seated position while holding his Beretta 92F.

He seemed overjoyed to see her.

"You're OK!!", he exclaimed with a large smile.

"Yeah", she answered without sharing his enthusiasm, "Why are you holding the piece?".

"No reason", he told her as she approached the bed, "Just felt like it".

"No better reason than_ that_", she went on as she stopped a few feet in front of him.

"So what happened?", Scott was curious, "Did you see Goro?".

"Yeah", she flatly told him.

"So he's dead?", he reasoned to himself out loud in an ecstatic manner.

Sonya shook her head as she released the Glock and the keys and let them fall on the floor.

"I don't understand", Scott said, "If you're OK and you saw him, then how come....".

"He pulled my piece out of my hand before I could use it", Sonya recalled the events for him, "Instead of getting it over with, he set a date for exactly two days from now. Same place. Me and him. One on one".

"Are you going?", Scott's momentary excitement faded.

"I_ have_ to face him, Scott", she calmly answered.

"But not alone, right?", he didn't want to hear an affirmative answer.

"Actually, yes", Sonya frustrated him, "I am".

"I wanna help!", Scott snapped.

"You can't even _walk_ straight", Sonya mildly told him, "I don't want you there".

"You _can't _go alone!", Scott shot back, "I shouldn't have let you go just now in the first place!".

"What?", Sonya sounded defiant, "I need your permission now?".

Going back to an argument would not help either of them. So she stopped momentarily and sighed after she made the last statement.

"Look", she continued, "This is_ my_ fight. I can't let you get involved. If you got hurt, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself".

"Do you trust him to stop killing if he gets you to show up?", Scott understood her reasons.

"Noo!", Sonya responded, "But if I finish him now, the killings _will_ stop".

"Johnny should come _with_ you", Scott persisted.

"No. It's _me _Goro wants", she kept on being stubborn, "Besides, Johnny put himself on the line for me before. It's time to return the favor. He shouldn't have to take all the risks".

"Can you take him?", Scott felt and looked worried.

"I don't know if _anybody_ can", her answer was not optimistic.

"Then Johnny should be there with you!", Scott couldn't understand why she wouldn't see his point of view, "You'll have a better chance when it's two on one!".

"I said no! _I'm_ the one Goro wants!", she angrily snapped, "I don't want Johnny getting hurt because of it. I'm _tired_ of playing thedamsel in distress!".

"Is that what this is about?", Scott finally saw the truth.

"I'm going alone", she pointed her index finger at him, "And I want _you_ to keep your mouth shut".

"I _really_ don't like it", he replied, "This isn't a good time to worry about your ego".

"It's not like I don't have a plan", Sonya avoided his statement, "I'm taking the Glock along. When we start fighting, I'll withdraw it and put as many rounds in him as I can. That should slow him down".

"Damsel in distress, huh?", Scott refused to give up, "Is _that_ how you view yourself?".

"Let it go", she answered as she bent down to pick up her semiautomatic off the floor.

"Like what Johnny was talking about after the first body was discovered?", Scott went on, "He and Liu pulled you out of Outworld and you didn't like it, is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right", Sonya crossed her arms in front of her chest as she recollected.

"Like back in the base how you wanted to chase after Kano and Jax and me wouldn't let you go alone because it wasn't appropriate for a lady to go alone", Scott continued.

"Yeah", was her answer.

"Like when you got shot in the stomach and I had to carry you outside on my back for hundred of yards because you were helpless?", he reversed their role so she'd realize she wasn't the only one who needed help.

Sonya noticed what he was trying to do, but his remembrance of her heroic deeds did not make her feel more independent.

"I'm going alone", she bluntly told him as she began to head for her bedroom, "What the hell are you so worried about?".

"I'm worried you're gonna die!", Scott retaliated, "What if we _lose _you?".

"You don't wanna lose me?", she repeated as she angrily brought her face close to his, "That's _exactly_ what's gonna happen if you tell Johnny about this! Keep that in mind!".

Without saying anything else, she walked into her room and closed the door behind her. She could not understand why she ended up arguing or fighting with everybody who had ever meant anything to her. Feeling the chilly air from outside through the open window, she decided she needed something heavier than shorts and a T-shirt to wear.

First, she placed the Glock under the pillow before pulling her sneakers off her feet. Then, she changed into a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved cotton blouse before she crashed on the bed and tried to catch up with her sleep. She didn't fall asleep right away after she covered herself with the blanket. Instead, she wondered about the hostility that had emerged between her and her two closest friends. She was still trying to make sense out of it when fatigue took over and she closed her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sound asleep, Sonya was dreaming. She saw herself in the inner city with no one else around and under a cloudy sky. She was wearing tight green pants, a green workout bra and white sneakers. She could easily see the two-inch long scar on her left shoulder that the militant who shot Scott had inflicted on her with a hunting knife. Although she felt brave, she also knew she had to be cautious. She reached for her waistline to grip the 9mm semiautomatic, but neither the Glock nor its strap were on her. She slowly turned around 360 degrees and, after returning to the original position, she saw a dead body with its arms missing a few yards away. She slowly turned around 360 degrees again and when she came back to the original position, she saw a second body with its legs missing a few yards beyond the first. She casually walked towards the direction of the second body. She passed the first one. When she reached the second one, she saw a third body a few yards beyond it with its head missing. Feeling curious, she proceeded towards it. As she reached the third body, she saw Goro a few yards ahead as he sat on a pyramid of corpses that was about ten feet high.

"It's about time", Goro said, "I was getting lonely".

He extended his lower right hand with an open palm towards her.

"Come on", he continued, "It's your time".

The gray sky steadily turned reddish until it became blood-red.

Then, the Glock appeared in her right hand. She aimed it at Goro without saying a word and opened fire. Goro only smiled, though. The Prince of Shokan and the gloomy scenery vanished and she found herself standing between two aisles in a supermarket. She was still wearing the green outfit and holding on to her semiautomatic. She walked around to find her way out and saw Shang Tsung's guards as they stood erect holding spears everywhere she turned. She rushed to the front of the store and saw a glass door with a busy crowd on the other side of it. She also saw Johnny standing behind a counter.

"Sonya", Johnny called out, "I know the way out".

Thinking he was lying, Sonya held the Glock at arm's length in front of her face, aimed and fired one round at him. He dropped behind the counter without a sound. She then turned away from his direction and fired one round into the glass door, shattering it. New glass appeared intact and replaced the hole left in the door just as the semiautomatic vanished while she was still holding it in front of her face. She rushed towards the door and jumped into it head first. She shattered the new glass herself and was about to land on the ground on the other side.

Sonya suddenly opened her eyes and found herself staring at the dark ceiling of her bedroom since she was lying in bed on her back. For a split second, she thought the weight of the blanket that covered her was Goro. Thus, she screamed as she panicked and threw the blanket off her, most of which fell on the floor. She then quickly sat up, gasping for air.

She looked out the window as she was getting calmer and saw it was dark outside. She found it curious since the sun was rising as she had fallen asleep. She knew she had been dreaming, so she fought her initial instincts to reach under the pillow. As she was about to pull the blanket off the floor using the bit that was still on the bed, Scott opened the door and stood at the entrance behind his walker. He was holding on to the walker with his left hand because he gripped the handle of his Beretta with his right.

"What???!!", he exclaimed as he pointed the handgun into the room, thinking there was an intruder.

"Nothing", Sonya motioned him to put his firearm down, "I just had a nightmare".

"Everything OK?", he lowered the Beretta by his side.

"Yeah", she answered.

Neither of them spoke for a few seconds.

"Could you turn the lights on?", she asked him next because the light switch was next to the doorway.

She finally saw everything clearly when Scott flipped the switch upwards. It was very nice of him to rush over when he was worried about her, she told herself as she gathered the blanket and set it on the edge of the bed.

"How did you get here so fast?", she asked him, wanting to satisfy her curiosity.

"I was already up", he bluntly replied.

"And why is it so damn dark outside?", she asked next, pointing out the window, "Where's the sun?".

"Sonya, you've been asleep for the last fourteen hours", he told her.

"No way", she could not believe her ears.

"Yes way", Scott answered, "For a while, I thought you were in a coma... By the way, Johnny called about half an hour ago".

"What did he want?", she wanted to know.

"He said Liu was about to touch down at the airport", he informed her, "Johnny was there to pick him up".

"Liu?", she was surprised, "But he's in Hong Kong!".

"Not any more", Scott went on, "Johnny sent his personal jet last night to pick him up".

"Liu's coming _here_?", she smiled.

"Yeah", he flatly answered without returning her grin.

He turned around and began to leave. It didn't come as a surprise to Sonya that he was not in the mood to talk to her, especially after everything she told him before going to sleep.

"Scott?", she stopped him.

"What?", he turned back to look at her.

"Why don't you sit down?", she patted the spot on the bed in front of her.

Scott didn't answer or move. He just kept staring at her suspiciously.

"Look", he sighed, "I think it's about time I found somewhere else to live. I don't wanna stay anywhere I overstayed my welcome".

"Come on, don't go!!", she called aloud, "I'm sorry I was such a bitch, OK? Wadda you want me to say?".

He didn't respond.

"Have a seat", she motioned at the bed as she locked eyes with him, "Please?".

Scott reluctantly walked into the room and positioned himself on the edge of the bed, much like he was when he was talking to detective Olsen. He stared at her across the few feet of mattress that was between them because she was seated in front of the pillow and he was seated at the foot of the bed.

"I just dreamt about Goro", she bluntly told him.

"Oh", his facial expression seemed more interested.

"Funny thing is, I was wearing green tights", she went on, "I _never_ wore tights before. I have no idea what that was about".

Scott simply stared at her as he waited for her to make her point, so she did.

"I just don't know what's going on with me, Scott", she looked worried and scared, "I just have no idea. Every time I bring up Goro, I end up exploding on whomever I'm talking with. Maybe he's got a curse that I'm being affected with... I never told anybody this since I came back, but there was a reason this guy was the Mortal Kombat champion. At the tournament, I saw him beat a man to death with his bare hands. He was simply unbeatable. He was a monster".

Sonya's voice shook and her throat tightened up as she felt a tear coming down her right eye. She wiped it with her right hand as she continued with the recollection.

"Me, Johnny and Liu had to just stand there and watch because there were just three of us and about_ fifty_ guards", she explained, "We would've been cut down to pieces if we had tried to intervene. It's not like me, like _us_, to just stand there while a bully crushes a victim, but there was nothing I could do because we had to save ourselves to take on Shang Tsung afterwards! I just had to stand there and watch!".

"I didn't know that", Scott became more sympathetic.

"I just can't believe what this is doing to me!", her voice shook even more, "When I was coming back from the cemetery, there was a guy lying dead on the road and a cop who was giving him first aid. I felt like walking up to the cop and saying 'Is this gonna make me late'! The cop would've looked at me like I was some kind of a nut... That's because I _was_!".

She sighed before resuming.

"I _am_!", she finished.

"You're not", Scott corrected her.

"What's going on with me?!?", she seemed angry at herself, "I can't _believe_ what I did when Johnny was here. I was _so scared_ when he decided to fight that freak! I thought Goro was gonna kill him. I was standing there getting ready to watch him fight and I was rehearsing in my head all my own moves that I was gonna use against that freak afterward! I thought I was gonna see Johnny get crushed in front of my eyes!".

Sonya turned her head towards the wall and lowered her face to cover both eyes with her right palm. She was fighting hard to keep the tears back.

"But Johnny _didn't _die", Scott told her.

"I know, I know!", she looked at him.

"I don't think that's what's bothering at all, Sonya", Scott finally remarked.

"I don't understand", she uttered.

"Sonya, I saw the report of what happened to the militant who shot me", he slowly explained, "He had been stabbed in the mouth. From the marking on the wall, the coroner had guessed that he might've even been nailed to the wall with the object that was used in the stabbing... Now, the way I see it, there are two possibilities how that happened. One, you threw the knife at him just as he felt like yawning and the blade accidentally went into his mouth. Two, you shoved the blade into his mouth after you beat him to a pulp. I think the second possibility is much more likely".

"So what?", Sonya responded, "You're saying what I did was wrong?".

"No. I didn't say that", Scott went on, "It was right. You did what you had to do. The same with Kano. You remember how you killed Kano, Sonya?".

"Of course".

"You told me you had your ankles around his neck", Scott remembered, "You broke his neck even though he was helpless... I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, he did. But you crossed a very important line when you met Kano. You killed him even though he wasn't an immediate threat. The problem with such actions is that you might enjoy it too much and you may not be able to let go of it afterwards. You're scared of this Goro guy right now because the fight with Kano and the militant made you afraid that you could be a thug or a bully too".

"Oh! Why did you have to say _that_???", she broke into tears and lowered her face down into her right elbow.

"I'm sorry!", Scott tried to calm her down, "I'm just telling you the truth! You're only _afraid_ you're a bully, Sonya, you're not really one. You had to _convince _me to hit those terrorists who were rushing Congress. You wanted to go just because they were doing something wrong. After I was hit, you risked staying back there and getting killed until you were carrying me out. Kano or this Goro guy would _never_ have done that! That's the difference with you, Sonya, you've got a heart. And a very big one at that".

Sonya wiped the fresh tears away before looking up at him.

"Thanks for the flattery", she told him.

"I'm not flattering you, boss", Scott smiled, "I'm just telling you the truth".

Sonya did not smile back.

"But_ look_ at the truth, boss", Scott continued, "You're not afraid of Goro... Two minutes ago you said Goro was unbeatable and then you remembered that Johnny beat him... If Johnny beat him, then he's not unbeatable, and if he's not unbeatable, then you wouldn't be afraid of him... The most talented commando in the Special Forces is afraid of some eight foot tall freak? That doesn't sound right".

"Wouldn't_ you_ be afraid of him if he was coming after you?", she demanded.

"Well, sure", he quickly replied, "But I'm not the most talented commando in the Special Forces".

"And _I_ am?", she asked.

"Yeah!", he exclaimed.

"Is this supposed to be your way of trying to make me feel better?", she asked him next.

"I'm just being honest", Scott answered, "Is it working?".

"Yeah. Thanks for trying, really", Sonya finally smiled, "But it's the_ ex_-commando now, remember?".

"Bullshit!", he replied, "You'll get your old position back in no time!".

She kept staring at her former partner for several seconds without saying anything. She told herself that everything Scott said made perfect sense.

"Really, though", Scott kept on explaining, "What you need to do is make peace with what you've become. I mean, when you first joined the military, you never could've guessed that you'd be able to kill somebody who wasn't fighting back. But you've changed, and you've got to stop denying it. _That_'s how you'll find peace".

"You're right", she surprised herself as she answered him.

"We're a team, you and I, right?", he tried to encourage her, "So if Goro's giving you a problem, we strike back as a team! Right?".

"Yeah! Yeah!", Sonya was getting more enthusiastic.

"Great!", he finalized the deal.

Just as he did, someone rang the doorbell.

"I'll get it", Scott offered as he stood up with the help of the walker, "You should wash your face".

Her eyes were red because she had been crying and he knew she didn't want anybody to see them.

"_Can _you?", Sonya asked him as she got out of bed also.

"Yeah, sure", he headed out of the bedroom and for the living room.

"By the way, Scott", she told him as he was leaving, "You never saw me cry".

"Saw who cry?", he answered.

"Thanks", she called out as she first put her sneakers on and then headed for the small hallway to get to the bathroom, "I knew I made you a sidekick for _some_ reason".

She turned the light on in the bathroom before opening the faucet to wash her face as Scott reached the living room. He first placed his Beretta next to the bed before proceeding for the door. He then turned the knob and opened the door wide. Johnny was standing on the other side with another man, who Scott presumed was Liu.

"Come on in, guys", he told them.

Both men walked in and Liu closed the door behind them.

"Scott, I'd like to introduce you to Liu Kang", Johnny pointed at his other fellow mortal kombatant, "He's only _the _best martial artist in the world".

"It's a pleasure", Scott and Liu shook hands.

"This is Scott", Johnny addressed Liu as he pointed to Scott, "He used to be in the Special Forces. Remember that raid on the Congress several months back?".

"Of course", Liu told him, "The news reached the entire world".

"Well", Johnny went on, "Scott here and Sonya were the two who single-handedly took out all the terrorists who were there".

Scott didn't say anything to the contrary, but he didn't understand why Johnny refused to take credit for his role in the raid. Johnny had been as important in the counterattack as the two of them.

"I'll be honest, though", Johnny turned back to Scott, "If Liu hadn't been at the tournament with me, I was gonna get my ass kicked all the way back to Hollywood. He made it possible for me to get out of there with my hair still intact".

As amusing as the comment might have been under different surroundings, Johnny didn't smile after he said it. He knew the situation between him and Sonya was very shaky and he had no idea the kind of reaction he was about to get from her when she saw him.

He didn't have to wait long because Sonya shut off the water from the faucet and casually walked toward the trio as she dried her face with a towel. Seeing her, Scott figured it would be better for him if he sat back down since he couldn't stand for more than a few seconds without the pain getting to be too much.

"Liu!", she exclaimed in a cheerful tone as she put the towel on the bed.

"Sonya, it's great to see you", Liu smiled back as she headed for him with her arms stretched out expecting a hug.

"I just wish it was under better circumstances", Liu continued as they embraced.

"Me too", she answered before they separated.

"How did you cut yourself?", Liu noticed her bandaged hands.

"Shaving", Sonya pleasantly told him.

Without saying another word, she stared at Johnny since he had been standing just a few feet to Liu's right. Sonya knew she had exchanged many words with him that were wrong, just like she had with Scott. She also knew it would take a fairly long time to orally straighten things out between them. Instead, she decided to let her actions do the talking.

"It's great to see you too, Johnny", she stated as she gave him a genuine smile since she suspected he could tell the difference between a real smile and a phony one.

Before he could answer, she wrapped both her arms around him and embraced him the same way she did Liu. Johnny knew instantly that things were back to normal. After separating from him, Sonya took one step forward, turned around and rested her left arm on Liu's shoulders and her right arm on Johnny's.

"I have to tell you guys", she happily stared back and forth at both fellow kombatants, "Anybody except those who loved me would've given me the finger after how I acted up".

Liu knew what she was talking about because Johnny had told him about her behavior as he drove from the airport. So he was glad she felt better. To make her peace with the trio official, Sonya reached to her right and kissed Johnny on the left cheek before the actor knew what happened. She then reached to her left and kissed Liu on the right cheek the same way.

"That's what I call a welcoming committee", Liu smiled as Sonya then withdrew her arms from his and Johnny's shoulder.

She stepped forward toward Scott's bed because she knew her fellow kombatants were not alone in the ordeal. While Scott was seated on the edge of the bed, Sonya slightly bent over to hold his left cheek in her right palm.

"Three time's the charm", she smiled at him before she kissed him on the right cheek in his turn.

"And which is _why_ I have to tell you guys what happened", she stood back up to her full height and turned around to face Johnny and Liu again, "I saw Goro at the cemetery earlier on. He _spoke _to me, so there's no doubt, he's really here. Another thing is that he has this ability to vanish at will. He told me I should meet him at the cemetery for a match or he'll keep on killing. I was planning to go at it alone, but _somebody_ in this room convinced me I should involve my friends in this".

She obviously meant Scott when she referred to the mysterious 'somebody'.

"And so. Since I know who my friends really are, I guess I should spill it", she smiled at them, "It _would_ be better if the three of us take him on all at once. I wouldn't want it any way other than having the three people that I trust other than my dad on my side on this. I just needed some time to actually figure out that somebody who wasn't a friend would've told me to go to hell years ago with my kind of attitude".

"Well", Johnny smiled back, "Your looks _almost_ make up for it, so we'll stick around for a while longer, I guess".

"Oh, thank you", Sonya kept smiling, "I'll always be grateful".

"I don't get it, though", Johnny became more serious as he addressed everyone in the living room, "From the way she's describing him, it sounds like Goro _didn't_ survive the fall off the cliff. He's a ghost just like Scorpion was. Why didn't Rayden warn us about this?".

"I'm sure he had a good reason", Liu replied, "Maybe he didn't even know".

Liu thought it was only appropriate to give Rayden the benefit of the doubt since he had helped them out during the tournament.

"Sonya, why don't you show us where this date with Goro is supposed to take place", Liu then said, "But not now. I'm really tired after that long plane ride".

Johnny stared at him with a small grin because he thought Liu was putting down his private jet or his pilot.

"No offense intended, partner", Liu held his hands up, reading Johnny's mind, "The plane and the pilot were fine; the ride was just too long".

"I'll let you get away with that one", Johnny held his right index finger in front of his face, "But you better not diss my men again".

"We can wait", Sonya told them both after hearing that Liu was drained, "The fight isn't scheduled until almost thirty six hours from now".

"That's fine", Liu addressed everyone, "In the meantime, I'd like to see the spot where Goro placed those two bodies again. Who knows? It might tell us something we don't know".

"I doubt it", Scott answered him, "If there _was_ some evidence there, the police would have it now".

"Maybe", Liu went on, "But the police were not looking at the scene with Goro in mind. We_ will_ be".

"I doubt we'll find anything", Johnny agreed with Scott, "But I guess it can't hurt".

"Great", Liu agreed.

Liu and Johnny headed out the door in order to take a closer look at the chalk outmarks of the two victims the Prince of Shokan had left behind. After they were gone, Sonya turned her attention back to Scott.

"Well, I'd say things turned out pretty good, huh?", she told him.

"Yeah, definitely", he answered.

"Thanks", she went on, "I owe you".

"No, you don't", he responded, "Friends don't owe anything to each other. You only owe things to strangers".

"OK, then I _don't_ owe you. Ha!", Sonya grinned.

"A comedian till the end", Scott described her.

Sonya grabbed the remote control for the television set and sat next to him on the bed.

"You feel like watching some TV?", she asked after turning the set on.

"Not really", he answered, "I'm wiped out. I want some sleep".

"But I want TV!", Sonya whined as she grimaced, "Come ooooon! At least until those two guys come baaaack!".

"No!", Scott protested, smiling, "I want my rest!".

"Well, too bad!", Sonya replied, "The TV stays on".

"Fine!", he gave up and stood up with his walker, "I'll go to your room, then".

"It'd be more fun if you stay", Sonya smiled as she watched him walk away.

"I gotta tell your father to stop spoiling you", he said loud enough for her to hear as he approached the door to her bedroom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott was lying on his back on Sonya's bed after closing the door of her bedroom to block out the sound of whatever show she was watching. Although he didn't know what the future held, he was peacefully staring at the ceiling as he felt glad things worked out between the four of them. He was slowly closing his eyes and slipping into a calm sleep when he suddenly saw a brown and ugly face looking down at him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!", Scott screamed as he found himself staring up into Goro's cold eyes.

He instinctively reached by the side of the bed, expecting to find his Beretta. It took him a second to remember that he was lying on Sonya's bed and not on his own, so he found nothing. Realizing he was unarmed, Goro swiftly grabbed Scott by the stomach with his two lower arms and picked him up to bring them face to face to each other.

"You're Goro!", Scott was astonished as his feet were dangling over two feet off the floor while he stared into the Shokan Prince's eyes.

"And you're an insect!", Goro responded, "I came her and locked the door for the whore, but you'll do just as well as a hostage".

Not discouraged, Scott punched him with a tight left fist. The impact hurt Scott's hand and his opponent's jaw as Goro's head snapped back. But the four-armed former Mortal Kombat champion did not lose his grip on the human and he slowly brought his head back to its proper position. Just then, someone tried to open the bedroom door from outside and knocked on it hard when it was discovered that the door was locked.

"Scott!", Sonya yelled out as she knocked again, "Are you OK?".

Both Goro and Scott stared at the door at the same time.

"SONYA, RUN!!", Scott screamed, "GET OUTTA HERE!!".

Sonya was never one who listened to advice. From behind the door, she gave out a yell and spun to her right as she kicked the door just above the knob with her left foot. Inside the bedroom, the door swung open as the bottom of her left sneaker protruded from the entrance.

"You!!", she saw Goro only a few feet away with nothing but hatred in her eyes, "Put him down!!".

Goro gladly did as he was told. He released his grip on Scott and let the former commando fall on the floor as he turned to face Sonya. She promptly kicked him in the right knee and sent an immense amount of pain through his right leg. Despite the setback, though, Goro lunged forward and bearhugged her using his two lower arms. He walked out of the bedroom and into the living room as she vehemently tried to get out of his grip, but to no avail. As she was being carried outside of the bedroom, Sonya realized that her physical strength was no match when compared to Goro's, so she yelled out to Scott.

"The Glock, Scott!", she tried to point at her bed, "It's under the pillow!".

Scott understood and quickly crawled towards the pillow. Reaching under it with his right hand, he instantly felt the soothing handle of her 9mm semiautomatic. He smoothly pulled it out and aimed it at the middle of Goro's back as that one was walking into the living room. As Scott was about to pull the trigger, he noticed a white flash coming towards him from the direction towards which Goro was headed. The flash went through the doorway of the bedroom, hit his right hand and instantaneously froze his hand as well as the Glock.

Scott gasped as he felt the freezing cold that enveloped his hand. Unable to release the handle of the semiautomatic, he gripped his right wrist with his left hand and shakily stood up. He then ran after Goro with some difficulty, although he did not realize he was moving without the help of his walker.

Reaching the living room, Scott saw Goro squeezing out the front door and into the street while he still held on to the resisting Sonya. He also caught a glimpse of another man in a blue outfit who followed the four-armed kidnapper. Once the Prince of Shokan was outside, Johnny and Liu clearly saw him as well, but they did not dare attack because they knew he could have broken Sonya in half if he chose to. Johnny and Liu also realized who was with him. Sub-zero stood next to Goro and was prepared to attack anyone with his ice arsenal.

Seeing that he had the two kombatants' attention, Goro gripped Sonya's hair with his upper right hand and simultaneously released her from his two lower arms. He held her up solely by her hair at arm's length in front of his shoulder as her feet were several feet off the floor.

"You didn't _really_ think I went to all this trouble just to get to you!", he addressed Sonya, "It's that actor boyfriend of yours I want! You're just the pawn!".

"Put me down, you asshole!!!", Sonya snapped at him as she reached up and held on to the top of his hand in order to relieve the pressure on her hair and head.

"If you want to see her again,", Goro defiantly pointed at Johnny and Liu with his left hands, "then be at the old factory on 3600 Oxford in one hour. If you're not there, she dies".

With those words, Goro pulled his upper right arms, and with it Sonya, closer to his chest and all three vanished into thin air. Johnny and Liu saw Scott a few feet away from the doorway with the ice covering his right hand and Sonya's firearm. He was in obvious pain as he leaned against the wall. They rushed inside and led him to a couch because he had trouble finding his way around. While Scott was moaning and holding his right wrist, Johnny grabbed the nearest telephone and dialed 911 for an ambulance.

"He got her. He got her. That son of a bitch", Scott kept repeating, "He got her".

After giving the operator the address and briefly describing Scott's condition, Johnny hung up and addressed Scott.

"Hang on, kid", he told him, "The ambulance is on its way".

"Forget about me!", Scott hissed air through his mouth, "Get her back! Just bring her back,_ please_!".

"I promise, we won't come back unless she's with us", Liu declared as he turned to look at Johnny, "I can't believe it. Sub-zero's back too. Do you know where Oxford is?".

"Yeah, yeah", Johnny answered, "I can drive there. I know the way".

"Then we better not waste any time", Liu eagerly headed for the door.

"Just one more thing", Johnny stared at Scott, "Do you have a baseball bat here?".

"There might be one in the closet", Scott slowly pointed towards the direction.

As Johnny went into the closet to find it, Scott called after him.

"Forget that! Take my Beretta", he told him, "It's next to the couch".

"No, I don't think that would be a good idea", Johnny informed him as he came back holding a solid wood baseball bat, "Goro would be expecting that".

"I don't get it", Scott painfully expressed.

"Just trust me, Scott", Johnny followed Liu towards the entrance, "Look, I'm gonna leave the door open so the paramedics will find you, OK?".

"Fine", Scott replied, "Go".

Without saying anything else to him, the two kombatants walked out. As Johnny led Liu to his car, it was clear he was planning something in his mind.

"I have a make-up kit in the trunk for the film I'm shooting now, Liu", he said out loud.

"So what?", Liu didn't understand what he meant.

"I wanna put it on", Johnny told him as they neared the vehicle.

"I'm confused", Liu could not to lie, "Why??".

"Goro may not initially recognize me in it", Johnny explained, "And if he doesn't, then I could get close enough to get a sucker punch".

"I _still _don't understand", Liu answered as he waited next to the front passenger door.

Johnny rested the baseball bat on the hood of the car and opened the trunk.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The factory where Goro dragged Sonya was old and dusty. It had large windows resting at an inward angle on top of fifty-foot high walls to supposedly bring in sunlight. Goro and Sub-zero carefully watched her after Goro set her down on the ground. They knew she couldn't run anywhere without being shot in the back with a freezing sphere from the ninja. To make her less of a threat, Sub-zero had brought a pair of handcuffs with him. He picked them off the ground and showed them off to her so she'd know how she was going to be handled.

"So this is what the game was all about", Sonya stared at Goro, "You keep pressuring me until I call both Johnny and Liu over. You want Johnny and the ice-cream vendor there wants Liu".

"She's got a brain after all!", Goro addressed Sub-zero as that one approached Sonya with the handcuffs.

"Ooooh!", Sonya called him in a sarcastic voice and a long face, "Wadda you need _that_ for? Don't tell me you're afraid of a harmless woman like me".

She could sense that Sub-zero was smiling behind his blue mask.

"Don't make me laugh", he spoke for the first time, "You wouldn't last one minute".

"Then wadda you need the handcuffs for?", she meant for her question to sound like a challenge.

"I _don't_ need them!", Sub-zero threw the handcuffs on the ground.

The Lin Kuei ninja stood with his fighting stance as he faced her from several feet away.

"Why don't you try your luck if you feel so brave?", he asked, expecting to have some fun at her expense.

"You're already dead", Sonya stood with a fighting stance of her own, "So I guess there's no point in telling you to get a life".

Without a warning, Sonya fly kicked towards him. Just as her foot was supposed to impact into his chest, though, Sub-zero vanished. After landing on the ground, Sonya twisted around and kept her eyes open. She could see Goro was content with only watching this fight and he didn't want to get involved. Sub-zero, on the other hand, was more of a threat since he had the distinct advantage of being a specter. While she was still visually combing the entire area, she got kicked in the upper back. She staggered forward and turned around to see Sub-zero standing behind her.

She instinctively rushed over to him intending to tackle him. As she reached him, though, he vanished again. It was clear he was toying with her. Before Sonya had a chance to turn around, he reappeared behind her and punched her in the back of her head. The sharp pain in her skull forced her to take two steps forward, but she still managed to stay on her feet. She turned around just in time to see him walking up and throwing a second punch at her. She grabbed his wrist with her left hand and punched him between the eyes with her right fist. The hit surprised Sub-zero and sent him staggering several steps behind.

Wanting to taste vengeance, Sonya rushed forward until she reached him. Before Sub-zero could react, she twisted to her left and kicked him in the jaw with her right leg. As her right ankle slammed into his mask, his head snapped into his right shoulder and he staggered three steps to his right. Following him, she kicked him in the side of the left knee and he screamed as he seemed to lose his balance. While he was desperately trying to stay on his feet for his pride, she kicked him in the head a second time. This time, when her ankle impacted into his jaw, Sub-zero crashed sideways on the concrete ground.

On his hands and knees, he threw a freezing sphere at her. Seeing it coming, Sonya jumped aside and rolled on the ground as part of the wall behind her froze. Quickly regaining her balance, she fly kicked him again as he stood up. This time, Sub-zero did not have enough time to vanish or get out of the way. The bottom of her right foot impacted into the ninja's chest and sent him flying several feet up into the air before he landed on his back, the unforgiving concrete injuring his spine. While still lying on his back, Sub-zero formed a second freezing sphere and hurled it at her. Predicting his move, Sonya jumped to her right and rolled several feet on the ground. Goro was standing about twenty feet behind her and the freezing sphere turned the ground near his feet into a sheet of ice.

"Hey!!", Goro warned the ninja to be more careful when he aimed.

As Sub-zero stood back up, Sonya rushed over to him and, upon reaching him, swiftly punched him in the jaw with her right fist. The blow twisted Sub-zero around in a semicircle and he found himself involuntarily having his back to her. Seeing her opportunity, Sonya gripped the mask that covered the back of his head and jumped on his back, thrusting her entire weight on him. As her opponent crashed forward and fell flat on his stomach, she slammed his face into the ground because she was seated on his back.

"At another time and another place, this might actually look romantic", she told him as she slammed his face into the ground for a second time.

Sub-zero desperately tried to grab her hand that gripped the back of his head, but he couldn't.

"Goro! Get her off! Get her off!!", he screamed for his partner's help because he also couldn't stand up or vanish with her weight on his back.

Sonya saw Goro rush towards them and knew the fight would be over as soon as he reached her. Before the Prince of Pain could get to her, though, she positioned her hands on both her opponent's ears. Gripping his ears, Sonya twisted Sub-zero's head to the right with all her might. The cracking sound she heard satisfactorily told her that his neck was broken. A split second later, Goro reached her, grabbed her by the blouse with his lower right hand and tossed her aside like she was nothing but a rag doll.

Sonya slid twenty feet on the concrete floor because of the amount of strength Goro had in each arm. As she finally stopped, bruised on her face and arms, she knew Goro was too late. Sub-zero was dead, again, and there was nothing the Shokan Prince could do about it. Sitting on the ground, she stared at him from twenty feet away as he inspected her inert opponent. Realizing Sub-zero was gone, Goro quickly put as much distance between himself and the ninja as possible. He was running away from the Lin Kuei ninja's body in the opposite direction that he had thrown Sonya because, when he was a handful of feet away, Sub-zero's body exploded in a bright flame. Sonya smiled as she smelled his burned flesh and watched his body scorch in the fire.

"Tough guy!", she congratulated herself as she giggled.

Goro, however, was less pleased with the outcome. As the fire on Sub-zero's body dwindled, the four-armed former Mortal Kombat champion picked up the handcuffs his former partner had dropped as he challenged Sonya.

"He let his guard down", he approached Sonya while holding the handcuffs on one finger, "I will not make the same mistake".

"Another tough guy who needs handcuffs, huh?", she stood up, "I thought you were more confident than that, you freak!".

"I am!", Goro dropped the handcuffs on the ground, thus picking the same path his former partner had chosen.

It was exactly what Sonya desired as she stood in her fighting stance while Goro stopped walking towards her and appeared ready for a fight as he was over thirty feet away.

"Back at the tournament, I'd been training myself to face you", Sonya told him, "If Johnny hadn't taken you out, I was going to be next, but I never got the chance. It looks like I'm about to".

She stood still in her fighting stance and just stared at him while he did the same.

"Come on!!", she exclaimed, wanting him to make the first move.

"No, _you_ come on!", Goro replied.

It was time to avenge the deaths of all the Earth warriors who came before her one more time. While still in her fighting stance, Sonya wanted to increase the amount of adrenaline going through her system before she acted.

"WIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!", she yelled out just before running towards her enemy.

She closed the thirty feet of space between herself and Goro in a matter of seconds as she kept her eyes on him and put all her strength in her legs. She knew what she was going to do for her first move, and she had a feeling Goro knew it also. It was only going to be a matter of who could take more physical punishment.

As she was about ten feet away, she took her last step with her right leg. She concentrated her weight on it before twisting to her right and flykicking Goro by holding out her left leg in front of the rest of her body. The bottom of her left sneaker collided into Goro's chest with every bit of her 140 pound body behind it. Goro staggered backwards and took two steps back as Sonya then landed on her feet. Standing in front of him, she twisted to her left and kicked him in the stomach with her right leg. Goro bent over a bit from the second hit as she was getting ready to execute a roundhouse kick aimed at his head. She never got a chance to do it, though, because Goro twisted his stomach as far left as possible and, with all his strength, swung his right arms around. The back of his upper right fist impacted against the right side of her face. Sonya turned around in a semicircle with her eyes wide open. She didn't feel much pain because her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell unconscious on her stomach on the hard, dusty ground.

Not surprised at the outcome, Goro picked her up with his lower arms before he took the handcuffs off the ground. He wanted to kill her at that spot, but he figured to himself that it would be more fun if she was chained and was forced to watch as he destroyed Johnny and then Liu. He carried Sonya towards one of the walls and handcuffed her right wrist to a metal band that was embedded in the concrete about four feet from the ground. He then turned away from her as she laid unconscious on ground with her right arm stretched towards the ceiling because of the handcuffs.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya did not know how long she had been out cold, but she woke up after some time with a bad headache. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was before she stared up at her handcuffed hand and realized she could not move away from the wall. The right side of her face, from below the eye until the chin, was darkened from Goro's hit, but she did not know that. She caught a glimpse of the 2,000 year old half human dragon as he paced the ground of the factory over twenty feet in front of her. Seeing Goro made her forget about her headache.

"Why the_ hell_ didn't you finish me off, dickhead?", she called out to him, sounding ungrateful.

"I have a special plan for you", Goro answered as he stopped to face her.

Not wanting to be helpless, Sonya quickly began to search the ground around her for something thin enough she could use to free herself from the handcuffs. She was still looking when a movement at the main entrance of the factory averted her attention, as well as her captor's.

Sonya looked towards the main entrance past Sub-zero's scorched remains to see who it was. She was confused when she saw Liu walking into the factory with an old man who was wearing an overcoat and who had a hump on his back. Despite the distance between her and Liu, she could see the old man's face was covered with deep cuts and he had to use a stick to lean on to walk somewhat bent over. Since Goro was closer to the visitors than her, he could obviously see everything she did.

"Who are_ you_?", the Shokan Prince demanded after turning his head towards them.

The old man approached Goro slowly and with difficulty.

"I'm Johnny's father", the old man told him, "Please, don't kill my son. He didn't come here because he's afraid".

Feeling flattered, Goro walked in the direction of the old man to meet him.

"Out of my way, insect!", he planned to send him flying into the air with a slap.

As Goro reached the old man, the old man lifted the stick he was using to walk with over his head with both hands. Since the Prince of Pain was closer, he noticed that the stick was in reality a baseball bat. His realization came too late, however, because the old man swiftly sent the bat crashing down on his forehead.

The bat broke after that single hit. Goro screamed, held his forehead with his two upper hands and staggered back about a dozen feet. During that time, the old man briskly took his coat and the hump off before pressing his left palm on his chin and working his way up towards his left cheek. He repeated the process from his chin towards his right cheek. He then pressed his palm from there until he reached his forehead, thus getting rid of the supposed cuts on his face. Goro soon realized that the old man was none other than Johnny Cage, his worst enemy.

"Clever. Very clever", the former Mortal Kombat champion said as he regained his composure and pointed to Liu, "So, are you planning to face me alone, or will you hide behind him?".

Johnny was already in his fighting stance.

"No", he calmly declared, "It's just you and me".

"I _was_ hoping we'd make it a double fight", Goro pointed at Sonya, "But she ruined it for us".

"What a shame", Liu answered him.

"Don't worry", Goro replied, "After I'm through with your friend, you'll be next. That is, assuming you stay with your honor and not help him cheat".

"He said it's one on one, so it is!", Liu angrily snapped at him.

"You better take a last look at the bitch, insects", Goro then motioned them to where Sonya was handcuffed, "Because there isn't a cliff here for you where you can get lucky. Everything's at ground level, so she will watch you both die!".

"It just makes it more fun for me", Johnny defiantly answered, still in his fighting stance.

"And after I'm done with the both of you", Goro went on, "I'll rip her apart".

He then turned his face to look at Sonya.

"No offense", he sarcastically smiled.

"Shut up and start fighting", Johnny interrupted.

"Fine!", Goro faced him again.

Johnny slowly and carefully took two steps forward while Goro did the same. As they came closer together, their concentration was solely on each other.

"Let's dance", Johnny whispered just loud enough for his adversary to hear.

While Sonya found a thin piece of metal on the ground and began to use it as a tool to hopefully release herself from the restrain, Goro swung with both right arms. Johnny jumped to his left and rolled on the ground. He stood back up and warily walked in a large semicircle so he reached the area to Goro's side and the Prince of Pain had to twist around to face him. Taking advantage of the scene, Liu fly kicked Goro from behind. Feeling the excruciating hit, Goro staggered forward. As he did, Johnny kicked him in the side of his right knee and he bent over because of the pain. Before giving him a chance to recover, Johnny then kicked him in the head. Goro groaned and fell on his side with a loud crash as expected.

"What can I say?", Liu taunted him as he recovered, "This isn't the official tournament. The rules don't apply".

Liu and Johnny closed in against him from about 120 degrees apart while Sonya still desperately tried to loosen the handcuffs around her right wrist. The Prince of Shokan told himself that he should've expected the move by Johnny's partner. After standing at his full height, Goro screamed and charged towards Liu. As he reached him, the White Lotus warrior jumped up as he twisted around and kicked Goro in the head. Liu's kick knocked Goro back down, but he instantly recovered and stood back up. He swung his right arms at Liu, but his opponent ducked far enough to avoid them both. As he did that, Johnny jumped on Goro's back and covered his eyes.

"See if you can fight like this, asshole!", the actor told him, giving Liu a golden opportunity to inflict damage.

Liu simply walked up to Goro and began to use his stomach as a punching bag. He punched and kicked at Goro's stomach at will, taking his frustrations out and seriously harming the former champion at the same time.

After being struck about fifteen times in many different ways, Goro realized he was being overwhelmed and decided to take advantage of the fact that he was a specter. He vanished just as Liu was sending yet another powerful kick into him. Johnny dropped the three feet that separated him from the ground while he was riding on Goro's back and landed on his feet. As soon as he saw Goro disappear, Liu refrained from completing the kick and pulled his leg back. Johnny and Liu then stood back to back and in their own fighting stance to reduce the odds that their enemy could surprise them while reappearing.

"You allright, Sonya?", Johnny called out to her without looking in her direction.

"I'm fine!", she replied still struggling with the handcuffs, "I just wish I could get this damn thing off!".

She knew her fellow kombatants could not help because Goro could easily hit them from behind while their attention was on her. So she kept on working by herself. As she believed she was making progress, she saw Goro appear within an arm's reach of them, forming a 90 degree angle with Johnny and Liu.

"JOHNNY!!!", Sonya yelled out as Johnny turned to his right and Liu to his left.

Before either one could react, though, Goro screamed and swung his upper right arms at the kombatant closer to him. The back of his massive hand collided with Johnny's head and sent him flying several feet into the air. Seeing that, Liu jumped vertically up and uppercut Goro, his fist fitting perfectly under the former champion's chin. The hit sent Goro staggering back. Liu went after him and angrily kicked him in the stomach, forcing him to bend over and gasp for breath. As Liu continued on with a strong kick to Goro's head, Sonya finally loosened the handcuffs and was able to stand up. Seeing that Johnny was on the ground awake, though dazed, she rushed to help Liu because Goro was still on his feet.

She ran up behind Goro and kicked him at the area between his right thigh and his right calf. Since it was from behind, the force of her kick bent his right leg, Goro lost his balance and came down on his knees. With that, Liu executed a roundhouse kick and sent him falling back down on the ground. Goro was briefly on his four hands and knees before he got back up. Before Liu could attack him again, he abruptly kicked the kombatant in the stomach. His hurtful kick sent Liu screaming and flying into the air before he landed on his back a dozen feet away.

With Liu out of the way, Goro turned around to face Sonya. She, in turn, kicked him between the legs since nothing else seemed to work. Goro screamed and bent over in pain just before Johnny rushed towards him and sent his right elbow crashing down on the back of the head of the Shokan Prince. Goro fell flat on his stomach, but before either Sonya or Johnny could do anything else, he vanished again.

"Watch yourself!", Johnny flattened his back against hers.

"Are you OK?", Sonya called out to Liu while keeping an eye out.

"I'm great", Liu moaned as he tried to get off the floor.

Just then Goro appeared next to Sonya and Johnny with a plan already worked out in his head. He hastily used his two upper arms to grab them by the back of the head, one with his right arm and the other with his left. Johnny and Sonya swung at him, but his arms were longer than theirs, so their efforts had no effect. While they were still struggling, Goro slammed their forehead together with all the strength his two arms allowed him.

Sonya and Johnny saw stars as they violently contacted. Afterwards, they both slipped on the ground helpless and incapable of fighting back. Goro roared in a cheer as he held up his four arms after seeing all three mortal kombatants vanquished. He knew he won. All he had to do was kill Johnny and his soul would be able to rest in the afterlife. After Johnny's demise, he could figure out whatever he wanted to do with the other two humans, whether it was to kill them instantly or to enjoy their anguish.

He picked the stunned Johnny Cage off the ground with his upper arms by firmly gripping the human's forearms. He planned to rip his arms off just as he did before to the people that he picked off the street at random to get the female's attention. As he was about to open his upper arms wide, something caught Goro's attention. At the main entrance stood a someone who was the same as his race from Shokan. The new visitor was as big as Goro was and also had four arms. He stood at the entrance of the factory holding a somewhat round-shaped rock which was about fifteen inches in diameter.

"Let him go!!", the new visitor ordered Goro with a forceful voice.

Goro simply kept staring at him, not knowing who he was. Seeing that he wasn't cooperating, the visitor hurled the rock towards him. The rock flew from the entrance and hit Goro in the head even though he was over forty feet away. Goro screamed and dropped Johnny back on the ground as the rock landed next to him. He then stared at the visitor with a deep cut below his left eye as the visitor then walked inside.

"Durak!!!", Goro exclaimed in a terrified manner.

"That's right", the visitor answered, "I'm glad you remember me, little brother".

Liu was already back on his feet and helped Johnny and Sonya get away from Goro as the Shokan Prince stood still, horrified at who he saw.

"I could not rest in peace until I killed my slayer also", Durak said out loud as he came closer, "It was worth it to wait five centuries just to let you come this close to reaching peace before I destroyed you like the lowlife that you are!".

"NO!!", Goro screamed and rushed over to his older brother with his four fists extended, ready to swing "I killed you once! I'll do it again!".

Durak, though, was ready. As Goro reached him, he swung forward and grabbed his younger brother by the lower arms. Durak then turned Goro into a horizontal position and lifted him, despite the fact that his younger brother weighed close to 600 pounds.

"NOOOOO!!!", Goro yelled out as he was in the air feeling helpless.

That was all he got to say because Durak then pushed him down and raised his right knee at the same time. Goro's back impacted into Durak's knee. During the collision, many of the windows that were overhead in the factory shattered and showered everyone on the ground with dangerous pieces of glass. Durak released his younger brother and let him fall on the ground with a broken spine. He then turned away and walked back towards the entrance. A few seconds later, Goro exploded and his body was set on fire just like Sub-zero's had been as the three kombatants took cover.

"Wait!", Johnny called out after Durak.

Durak stopped without turning around to look at them.

"Who are you?", Johnny curiously asked the question that was on all their minds.

"I was his brother", Durak told him, "He killed me five centuries ago to lay claim to the throne_ after_ I had spared his life in a fight".

"You're a specter too, aren't you?", Liu reasoned.

"That's right", Durak went on, still without turning around.

"But why did you wait until _now_ to finish him off?", Johnny wanted to know, "He decimated God knows how many people!".

"Your affairs are no concern of mine, human", Durak calmly explained, "And I wanted him to be as close as he could have been to victory to then see me take it all away from him".

"But two people are dead because of him!", Johnny protested, "Two _innocent _people!".

Durak turned around feeling somewhat annoyed at his tone of voice.

"I just saved your life, human", he reminded all three, still in a relaxed tone.

"I know, goddamnit!", Johnny replied, "And I owe you for it. But you could've saved many other lives too!".

"Like I have said before", Durak repeated, "Your affairs are not my problem".

Without saying anything else, Durak vanished in front of their eyes. All three kombatants stayed quiet for a few seconds before Sonya spoke up.

"I'm assuming you guys drove here, right?", she asked them.

"Yeah", Johnny answered.

"Good", she went on, "Because I can't walk much in this condition".

"_You _can't walk much?", Liu held on to his aching stomach.

"Well, let's go home and discuss that", she told him, "I can't wait to tell Scott this so he can explain it to detective Olsen".


	4. Final Confrontation 4

The conversation was quiet friendly. Sonya was seated around a circle wooden table in the kitchen along with her father, Johnny and Liu as they discussed just about everything that came to their mind. It was one of the first relaxed atmospheres that the kombatants could remember ever since they had come face to face with Goro. The more time passed, the more useless the topic of conversation became, which was fine with all concerned.

"One thing I could never understand, Johnny", Sonya pointed out as she swallowed a large strawberry, "When you were fighting against those four guys near the end of Dragon Fist 2, why in the _world_ were you all dressed up in three piece suits?".

"Well, it made things more interesting, didn't it?", Johnny explained as if she should have already known the answer, "The audience is used to watching guys fight in loose streetclothes. This was different. It was designed to get your attention, which it did".

"I just never get over that 'let's dance' statement!", Liu blurted out almost hysterically, which was a new sight.

"Yeah, it must be one of those classic movie lines that people will always remember over time", Sonya's father added in a calmer voice.

Their engaging conversation was suddenly interrupted by a fifth person who reached the table from the living room. The outside interference was not a surprise for any of them as they looked over to one side to see Scott approaching the table as he supported his body with a pair of crutches.

"Hey!", Sonya smiled at him, "It's about time you woke up!".

She noticed for the first time that Scott was dressed in the same clothes that he had on when he flew from Hong Kong. The fact that he didn't respond with her enthusiasm did not worry Sonya much because she knew her former Special Forces partner was busy trying to get back on his feet. The U.S. Army pressuring him to resign only increased the amount of stress the young soldier was under.

"Actually, I've been awake for the last several hours", Scott somberly answered as he slowly covered the few feet of distance that was between him and them, "I've just been thinking really hard".

"Don't strain yourself, kiddo", Johnny commented in a whimsical fashion, "It aien't worth it".

"Real funny", Scott replied with the dreary expression still on his face, "The tournament must've made you guys crave the comedy spotlight".

"Come on, Scott. You know I'm joking", Johnny defended himself, somehow surprised at his conduct.

"Well, what I was _thinking_ about was how I'm gonna tell you guys", Scott went on.

"Tell us what, partner?", Sonya finally realized she had to brace herself for bad news.

"This has been on my mind for a while now. I got a chance to try to recover my old strength as well as my old position", Scott announced, "Sergeant Spayne contacted me a while back and told me he could have me sent back to the base in Hong Kong so I could train with Major Briggs. If I do good, my old position is mine again".

"You're_ leaving_?!", Sonya's facial expression quickly became grim.

"I think it's time", Scott calmly said, "I can't stay here forever".

"You didn't tell us anything about this!", she wasn't going to accept his decision just yet as she kept looking up at him.

"What would you have done? You would've insisted I should stay? I can't live off you forever, lieutenant", Scott reasoned, "As _much_ as I appreciate everything you've done".

"When is this for, son?", Herman Blade broke the conversation between Scott and his daughter.

"Just a few minutes actually, sir", Scott answered him with the same respect he had always shown, "Sergeant Spayne is coming over to pick me up any time now".

"Just like _that_?!?!", Sonya felt and looked shocked, "How can you do that???".

"I thought I'd be easier like this", was his only defense as Johnny and Liu still stayed quiet, "It's been great, it really has".

Scott extended his right hand to Johnny first. The actor gripped it with his own right hand while so surprised to be saying farewell this suddenly that he forgot to stand up.

"It was great knowing you, kiddo. I'll miss you", Johnny blurted out without knowing what else to say as Liu stood up because he knew he was next.

"Your courage was admirable", the White Lotus monk told Scott as they shook hands, "I realize I've only known you for a short time, but I'm sure the warrior spirit rages inside you".

"Thanks, I think", Scott smiled nervously before turning to Herman Blade.

"It's been a pleasure to have you here, son", Sonya's father told him as he stood up also, "If you ever feel like coming back, the door's always open".

"Thank you, sir", Scott still responded as if he was addressing an official military superior.

The former Special Forces commando next turned to Sonya, who was still seated, not wanting to be as formal as the others.

"Lieutenant?", Scott formally extended his right hand down towards her as if they only knew each other professionally.

"See you around, sidekick", Sonya politely answered, looking disappointed as she gently held his hand without gripping it.

Afterwards, Scott smiled one more time and turned around to head out of the living room in order to wait for Sergeant Spayne's arrival as Liu and Sonya's father sat back down. They only stared at the former commando from behind as that one took his gym bag with his right hand and carefully proceeded towards the door.

Scott was gone within a minute and left everyone else feeling speechless for a while as he closed the door behind him. Sonya was staring at her two fellow kombatants as well as her father as she wondered what was going through their mind. She realized she could not know for sure without asking them, but for herself alone, she hated the way her sidekick just decided to walk out of her life. After pondering about it for several more seconds, she angrily sighed out loud and quickly stood up to go after her former partner, leaving the three men behind.

After hastily making her way past the front door, she closed it behind her. She had np problem spotting him standing several feet away watching the street as Sergeant Spayne was parking a humvee. The sunny and fair weather for that day was perfect for her usual attire, mainly a pair of shorts and a T-shirt with simple sneakers, although she wasn't thinking about it currently. Spayne got out of the driver's side door and proceeded towards the gym bag that was on the ground before he saw Sonya at the same time as Scott did.

"What? That's it?", she held her arms palm-up by her sides, "You're leaving me just like _that_?".

Spayne decided it was only appropriate to greet her before they left.

"Hi, miss Blade. Remember me?", he asked in as friendly a voice as he could afford.

"Hi", she responded without much enthusiasm.

Seeing her lukewarm reaction, Spayne quietly grabbed Scott's gym bag and walked back towards the humvee without interrupting them any further.

"You know I can't stay here, lieutenant", Scott calmly told her.

"Stop calling me 'lieutenant', goddamnit!", she snapped, "The system you're trying to get back to kicked me out with a dishonorable discharge!".

"You'll always be lieutenant Blade to me", he gave the hint of a smile, "The same one who told her boss to screw himself as she went after Kano".

"You weren't calling me 'lieutenant' when I was carrying you on my shoulders", Sonya shot back in a weary voice.

"What's your point?", Scott's facial expression was still peaceful.

"I don't know!!", she had to admit, "I'm just trying to make you talk to keep you here longer".

"I_ really_ hope you're not mad", he locked his relaxed eyes with her sad ones.

"No", she bluntly told him, "Everything's OK".

She stepped forward and tightly locked her arms around his back, embracing him as she lowered her head to rest it on his shoulder.

"For a while, it was almost like having my brother back", she told him in a voice that was a bit louder than a whisper, "He was a lot like you".

She pulled away from him before he had a chance to answer.

"I'll miss you too", he smiled after several seconds of silence, "Besides, after seeing Goro, there isn't much in life to be afraid of. But there are _some _things I can't do here. Major Briggs will bring me back in ways that can't be done here. He's a good guy, the major".

"I know he is", she said as they both realized it was time for him to leave, "But I was supposed to keep you here until you were back to beating up three guys, remember? I just don't know what I'm supposed to do here without you".

"Sit back. Relax", Scott advised, "Try to enjoy life... I realize that's usually an oxymoron, but do your best".

"Stay in touch, sidekick", she addressed him as he turned around and made his way towards the humvee.

Within two minutes, the humvee was out of sight. Since she was then staring down an empty street, Sonya turned around and headed back home.

"Son of a bitch!!!", she angrily punched the nearest wall with a right fist, lightly bruising her knuckles.

She didn't know whether she was angry at Scott for leaving or at herself for not being able to stop him, all she knew was that she was.

Just as she was about to open the door to step back inside her home, she heard another car first approaching and then parking behind her. Although not wanting to know who it was, she instinctively turned her head to see. Her long experience both before, during and after the tournament had left her suspicious of everybody and everything, so she simply had to make sure the driver was not an enemy.

She instantly realized that it wasn't because the only occupant of the car was detective Olsen and he hastily emerged and headed towards her. She turned around completely and crossed her arms in front of her chest, waiting for him to reach her.

"Where's Scott?", were the first words out of the detective's mouth.

"He's gone", Sonya almost coldly answered him.

She had no reason to consciously resent the relatively young detective, but she had almost regarded him as an intruder in her home when Goro's specter had returned. Although she clearly knew her limited dislike for him was unfair, since he was only trying to solve the homicides, it did not make her feelings towards him any friendlier.

"You're kidding!", Olsen responded, surprised, "I don't understand why that kid wouldn't want to say 'good-bye' in person... After all he did for me!".

"That's Scott for you", she told him, still in the same tone.

"I'm still wondering how I'm gonna put all this info about the two murders in my report. I'm supposed to say the case is solved after finding two charred bodies in an abandoned factory. Pretty strange, even for here".

"How did _you_ know he was leaving, if you don't mind me asking?", her tone eased just a bit.

"He left me a message on my e-mail saying he was going back to his base and it was good to see me again. Good kid, definitely. But I _could've _seen him off in person, it was the least I could've done".

"I'm sorry", she told him, meaning her words, "I would've stalled him if I had known you were coming".

"You _didn't_ know. It's fine", Olsen went on, "I just think I'm gonna....".

He was interrupted by a call from the radio in his car.

"Come in, please, detective", the operator on the other side requested.

"Excuse me", Olsen turned around and then reached for the radio through the open driver's side window, "Olsen here".

"We have a report of a shooting, detective", the operator told him, "It's on the 3400 block of Wilburn. Ambulance is on the way. I figured you're the closest, so you'd wanna go".

"Thanks", Olsen put his radio back in the vehicle.

"Gotta go!", he announced to Sonya with the most cheerful face he could muster after hearing that shots were fired.

"3400 Wilburn is close to here, no?", Sonya approached him in a composed manner as she lowered her arms by her sides.

"Yeah, it is.. The fun just never ends on my job".

"Do you need a back-up?", Sonya surprised herself more than him by asking.

"I appreciate the offer, miss, but I'm afraid it's against regulations", Olsen smiled as he opened the driver's side door without getting inside.

"Well, have it your way", she shrugged, "But which one would you rather have? Going somewhere alone or having someone from the Army Special Forces watching your back?".

Olsen stood next to the open driver's side doorway for several seconds while considering the benefits and consequences of his options.

"Get in. The passenger's side door is open", he finally said before he positioned himself behind the wheel.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3400 Wilburn was only a few short minutes drive away. Being the first on the scene, Olsen and Sonya caught sight of two teenagers as soon as they exited the car. Both individuals involved in the shooting were approximately fifteen years old. One was unconsciously lying partly on the sidewalk on his back with a gory circular hole in his chest. Sonya's first move was to check his pulse while detective Olsen had his service Smith & Wesson aimed at the second teenager as he cautiously approached him. The second one was in tears and seated several yards away from the wounded youngster with a shiny revolver resting on the ground at his feet.

"Don't move, son", Olsen advised the second teenager as he slowly reached him and picked up the revolver with his left thumb and index fingers.

"He's dead!", the teen mumbled through his sobs.

A quick glance at Sonya from Olsen confirmed the fact that the first teen had no pulse.

"What happened here?", Olsen asked after he put his own weapon back in its holster and placed the polished revolver in a clear plastic evidence bag.

"I just wanted to take his baseball cap", the second teen's voice shook as he bent over, feeling scared, "I wanted to scare him, that's all. I didn't even know the gun was loaded! I thought it was empty! It just went off! Goddamnit, he's in my English class, the gun went off!".

"Jesus Christ!!", Olsen sighed, momentarily staring at the sky and thinking to himself that such scenes happened one too many times.

"Where did you get the gun?", Olsen questioned as he rested the evidence bag on the ground.

"Huh?", the teenager answered without looking up, feeling confused.

"Where did you get the piece, kid?", Sonya repeated the question with more aggression in her voice.

"It was from a guy", the juvenile answered still without looking up, "About... Four blocks away... In the park".

The detective and Sonya concurrently heard several more sirens approaching. From the sounds, it seemed like at least one of the sirens belonged to an ambulance, not that it would have done any good. Knowing that other officers were coming to offer him assistance, Olsen grabbed the second teen by the upper arm and helped him stand up.

"You listen to me, son", the detective warned him as he withdrew a pair of handcuffs, "I'm taking you in. Now, when you're in the station, we'll get several more cops and probably an assistant district attorney to talk to you. When you're talking, you keep the details about wanting the cap to yourself, you hear me?".

It sounded somewhat strange to Sonya that the detective addressed the teenager as 'son' even though he could not have been older than thirty years old himself. But that wasn't on Olsen's mind; he was wondering more about whether or not the suspect was listening to him.

"Are you paying _attention_ to what I'm saying??", Olsen demanded as the sirens sounded closer every second, "During questioning, tell them you were just showing a gun you got to your classmate and it accidentally went off. Do you hear me?".

The teen bowed his head once in acknowledgment as the detective slowly placed his arms behind him. Other police cars and an ambulance arrived at the scene as Olsen handcuffed the suspect's wrists together while reading him the Miranda warning.

"Don't bother, guys", Olsen addressed the paramedics who hurriedly emerged from the ambulance, "The victim's gone".

He then led the lamenting teenage suspect into the backseat of a patrol car after a uniformed officer held the door open for him.

"Remember what I said", Olsen then told him after the suspect was seated and before he closed the door.

"Take him back to the station, boss", the detective next told the uniform officer as that one slipped into the driver's seat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several police officers remained at the scene after the suspect was driven to the station. Sonya stayed there for several hours while Olsen was going over details. He handed the evidence bag with the revolver in it over and watched the victim being taken into the ambulance in a body bag. She patiently waited until his business was done and he was free to talk to her, though only for a short time.

"What was _that_ all about?", she asked him when he walked over to her to catch his breath.

"What?", he answered her question with a question of his own.

"The advice you gave to the suspect", she clarified it.

"Please, miss", Olsen went on as if she shouldn't have to ask, "If the DA finds out that that kid wanted the other kid's cap, they'd probably charge him with felony murder. There haven't been enough arrests for violent crimes this month for the politicians to be happy, so this kid will get eaten alive because of it".

"You sure _are_ looking out for him".

"Well, it's either that or he stays in prison until he's 99", the detective explained, "I'm gonna be at the station in a few minutes to question him, which is good. I just don't think he needs the whole system full of politicians on his head right now. Besides, I think he's gonna have nightmares every time he even _looks_ at a water gun from now on. So, I start on it- as soon as I give you a ride home. I gotta do that before I get to tell the other kid's parents that their son isn't coming home any more".

"Great", she unenthusiastically responded as she followed him to his car.

They were driving back towards her home in less than a minute.

"And how 'bout the moron who _sold_ him the piece?", Sonya asked him while staring straight ahead through the windshield.

"What about him?", Olsen replied.

"Well, if you can't do anything official about it, maybe this situation demands an _unofficial _action", the former lieutenant responded, remembering her days in the military.

"What do you have in mind?", he didn't like what she was thinking of.

"Well, let's say I feel like going to him alone. Let's say I was out for a stroll and I _accidentally_ run into him".

"No, miss. Don't do that", the detective's voice walked on a line between being polite and stern, "There are _hundreds_ of people like him in this city. We'll take care of him after the questioning. Promise me you'll leave him alone, it's better to play it safe".

"OK", was her only answer as they reached her home after the sun had already set.

Sonya swiftly got out of the car as soon as it neared the sidewalk and bid Olsen farewell after closing the door behind her. Just as she walked back inside her home, she saw her father and Liu in the living room. Her father was on his feet, as if he'd been pacing while the White Lotus monk was seated on a couch, with his legs crossed off the floor and looking more relaxed.

"Where were you?", her father asked as soon as she stepped through the door, "You didn't tell me you were going to Hong Kong with the Scott kid".

"I wasn't", Sonya defended her actions, although understanding that she should have let him know her whereabouts, "Detective Olsen came by after Scott left. I went on an errand with him".

"I wish you'd let me know about these things!", Herman Blade exclaimed more out of fatigue than anger as he held his hands palm-up in front of his shoulders.

"Sorry. A kid got killed", she told him in order to get his mind off the subject.

"Yeah, well. I'm sorry about that. Just let me know", her father exhaled before heading into the kitchen.

"Where's Johnny?", she asked Liu since she couldn't see the actor anywhere.

"He left about forty minutes ago", Liu let her know, "He had to shoot some scenes for a motion picture".

"Oh. I'm sorry I missed him", Sonya responded before she stretched her arms above her head, "God! I'm beat. I wanna turn in".

She casually proceeded towards her bedroom as Liu simply stayed seated on the couch, staring straight ahead.

"Are you gonna be allright there?", she looked over her shoulder as she neared the door of her room.

"Yes, you go on to sleep. I'll be fine", he answered, still looking straight ahead.

"Hey, you'll probably still be there when I wake up tomorrow", she gave a small laugh as the distance between them increased.

"Sweet dreams", Liu called after her as she stepped through the doorway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Sonya was awake by 7:00 AM and dressed in blue jeans and a blouse. She walked out of the bedroom with a huge craving for food because she had skipped dinner the night before. While making her way to the kitchen, she glanced into the living room and spotted Liu sitting cross-legged on the same couch he was on the previous night. He hadn't taken his sight off the particular spot on the wall he was staring at when she had gone to her room. Clearly surprised and with her mouth slightly open, Sonya slowly approached him because she did not want to interrupt his concentration.

"Good morning", Liu smiled and turned his head to look at her from several feet away.

"When I said you'd probably still be on the couch, I was kidding", she told him.

"I like to ponder about life", he informed her.

"Ahah", she smiled, not being able to believe what she saw, "Well, do you want some breakfast?".

"Sure. Thank you".

As she was heading back to the kitchen, someone from outside inserted a key in the lock to the main door and tried to open it. She turned around and stared at the door as whoever the person was, he/she unsuccessfully struggled with the lock for several seconds.

"Daddy?", Sonya called out to make sure that it wasn't her father on the other side of the door.

"Yeah?", her father answered from his own bedroom.

"If it's not him, then who the hell _is_ that?", she asked both Liu and herself as she approached the door, getting ready to open it, "No one else has the key".

As she got to within five feet of the door, it was harshly pushed open from outside. Sonya's tension eased when she found herself staring at Johnny, wearing his sunglasses as always and carrying a newspaper in his free hand. Liu was glad to see his fellow kombatant too, although the only feelings in him were those of curiosity, there was no tension from the start.

"How did you get the key to here?", Sonya instantly demanded.

"Your father gave it to me", the star explained, justifying his actions.

"When?", was her next question.

"Uh... When I asked him for it?".

"Funny. You should tell me about these things".

"I'll keep it in mind for next time", Johnny reassured.

"So what brings you by this early?", she inquired, "Want something to eat?".

"This aien't a social call, Sonya", he told her as he took his sunglasses off, "Did you see this?".

He held up the newspaper in front of her face so she could read the article. It took Sonya a few seconds to skim over the headline which was about a prison escape.

"Somebody busted out?", she asked him.

"Not just anybody, Sonya. It's someone you put there", the actor's face looked grim, "It was Blud".

"Who's Blud?", Liu asked as her eyes widened.

"Some idiot we ran into during the attack on the House of Representatives", Johnny explained in her place, "He got life".

"How the _hell _could they let him go?!", Sonya raised her voice a fraction of a degree.

"Nobody _let_ him", Johnny explained, "He blew a hole through the walls and walked out. When a guard in a tower shot at him, he blew up the tower and the guard with it".

"What???", she exclaimed, "Say that again".

"You heard me right the first time. He some got a rocket launcher past the guards. I wanted to tell you myself".

"Is he what you would consider to be a threat?", Liu uncrossed his legs for the first time since last night and planted his feet on the floor.

"Definitely", Sonya coldly answered, "I know prisons are like everything else, they're not perfect. But how could anyone get a rocket launcher in there without it being detected?".

"I wish I could tell you", Johnny responded.

Just then, the phone rang. Sonya stared at it for three rings, feeling extremely tense about whoever was calling. As she saw Liu reaching for the receiver, she motioned him to stay away from it with her arm. She then swiftly walked up towards him and picked it up herself.

"Yeah?", her voice was stern.

"Hey, bitch, you remember me?", it was Blud's voice on the other end, "I'm out, in case you don't know".

"It's him!", she told them both as she covered the lower part of the phone.

"I got a surprise for you", Blud whispered in a menacing fashion.

"Wadda you want, you asshole?", she furiously answered after uncovering the mouth piece.

"Why don't you come to the corner of Vissey and Adams?", Blud dared, unsuccessfully trying to intimidate her, "There's a payphone there. I'll call you there in exactly fifteen minutes. I want you there, not any cops. If I see cops, I'll pull all the stops... Although, you can bring your boyfriend if you like".

Sonya assumed the boyfriend reference was for Scott, who obviously couldn't come along.

"And if I don't feel like showing up?", she was almost sure it was a trap.

"Then you'll have ten deaths on your conscience, bitch. I won't tell you anything more now", Blud hung up.

"We have somewhere to go!", she almost snapped at Johnny and Liu as she put the phone down herself, "We have to be at Vissey and Adams in fifteen minutes. I think he's got hostages".

"Let's go!", Johnny instantly responded as Liu got up while she grabbed the keys to the only car available.

Before heading out the door, Sonya ran to her bedroom and promptly pulled the ever-ready Glock out from under her pillow.

"I GOT THE CAR KEYS, DADDY", she yelled out as they rushed out the door, not wanting her father to know their destination.

She found herself thinking in her mind that Johnny had been too anxious to agree to come along, almost as if he had something to gain from the experience. But as she quickly slipped into the driver's seat, she chided herself for the thoughts she was having. After all Johnny and Liu had done for her, even her suspicious nature should've known better than to suspect them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They reached the corner of Vissey and Adams in just under eleven minutes since she was sure she exceeded the legal speed limit. Sonya got out of the car, holding the 9mm semiautomatic behind her with her right hand, and headed for the payphone. Johnny and Liu followed closely because she had neglected to tell them she was expecting a phone call. The second she reached the phone, it rang, indicating that they were being watched. Johnny and Liu realized it and began to visually comb the surrounding area as she picked it up with her left hand.

"Yeah?".

"I'm impressed, bitch", Blud went on, "You're fast. Now, drop the gun".

"Yeah, right!", she sounded defiant.

"That's the only way you can save _any_ of the ten people I've got", Blud calmly responded.

"That, of course, is assuming that you have anyone at all as a hostage and this isn't just a game to take a shot at us", Sonya deduced.

"Ooooh! She can think too!", Blud sounded unimpressed, "Listen, if I wanted you to die, I could've already done it from here. You _and_ your two new boyfriends, although I don't see your old one anywhere".

She was sure he was watching them, although they couldn't see him, which meant he could've also fired at them if he chose. But he didn't fire because he wanted to play around first. A mistake he might not live long enough to regret, she reasoned.

"Fine", she held out her right arm and released her grip on the handle of the pistol.

"Good", the joy could be heard in Blud's voice, "Now, about a hundred yards away, there's an abandoned house. The number to it is 1296. It's easy to recognize because all the other houses are in good shape but this one's been condemned. That's where I am. Come on in, make yourselves at home".

He chuckled before he hung up and Sonya heard the dial tone. She then signaled her two fellow kombatants to follow, which they did, still keeping both eyes open to watch each other's back.

"He's in there", she whispered as they neared the house numbered 1296, "Now, this is almost surely a trap, so watch out".

As they were about ten yards away from the main door, they found their first surprise. A young lady about Sonya's age, dressed in jungle camouflage and carrying a Mac-10, showed herself at the doorway.

"Come on in", she announced as if they were on a social visit, "He's in here, waiting for you".

They followed her inside the messy dwelling and to come face-to-face with Blud, wearing a long-sleeved jacket and sitting on the floor amid the dirt and debris. Behind him were a television monitor and a few other electric gadgets.

"Welcome!", the steroids-addicted militant declared with a fake smile as he stood up while the young lady walked over and stood by his side, her weapon aimed at them.

"I wish I could say it was a joy to see your ugly face again", Sonya spoke first.

"The same here", Blud answered, wondering if she read the article about him in the newspaper, "Is there anything on your mind you'd like to get over now?".

"Yeah", she took advantage of his offer, "How did you get the rocket launcher snuck into the prison?".

"Simple. It wasn't snuck into the prison, it was built in the prison", Blud pulled the jacket sleeve off his left arm, or what the kombatants thought was his left arm.

Instead of a forearm, a hand and fingers, he had a metallic three-inch thick muzzle attached to his left upper arm via his elbow.

"You'd be surprised how smart some of those lifers are. The surgery hurt like hell, but it was_ more_ than worth it", he went on, "They even helped me build the rocket for this sucker. It's a page right out of the comics books. The ultimate weapon, one that you can never lose".

"I'm glad education in prison is still available", Sonya told him.

"Where are the hostages you were talking about?", Johnny spoke next.

"Watch the TV. Turn it on, Clarian", Blud pointed towards the screen as the young lady bent down momentarily to do as told.

In black and white, the kombatants saw ten people locked up in a room without any windows and with only one locked door as soon as Clarian stood back up.

"See, almost everyone thought Techno was the only person we had who could play with gadgets and bombs. He wasn't. Although, I admit, Techno was one of a kind, I'm proud to say I was almost as good... Now, _those_ guys are in the house that's one block away. The house numbered 1196", Blud proudly announced, "I gathered them from here and there, you know. And the house itself is rigged with almost sixty pounds of explosives. The object of the game is to reach that house and diffuse the bombs in ten minutes or less, or else, everything goes -kaboom-".

"Jesus, I think he's serious", Johnny said out loud what Sonya and Liu were thinking in one form or another.

"Well, you better go then, heroes", Blud told them, grinning.

As all three were rushing back out to reach the house with the hostages in it, if not to diffuse the bomb then at least to try to get them out, Blud called them one more time.

"I think you've been reading too many comic books, guys!", Blud raised his voice, freezing all three kombatants in their tracks as they turned around from in front of the door and stared at him from twenty feet away, "You know what I'm talking about. Like where the villain has people at his mercy and can decimate them right away before the heroes arrive. But, being the stupid villain that he is, he puts the bomb on a timer that is just long enough for the main hero to reach it and defuse it with just one nervous second left before detonation. The main hero, I'm assuming in this case, would be you, Blade... But, even though _you_ may be a typical comic book hero,_ I_ am not a typical comic book villain, in other words, stupid".

With those words, and before any of the three could react, Blud picked up one of the gadgets from the floor behind him and pushed a button on it. The television screen that was showing the hostages went blank and the loud noise of an explosion sounded from a short distance away, shaking the walls and everyone in them.

"_That_ was payback for you losers thwarting me before", Blud erased the grin from his face.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!", Sonya barked, taking two quick steps towards him before he motioned for Clarian, who was still next to him.

"Put'em to sleep, baby", Blud ordered.

Sonya witnessed the next scene as if in slow motion. She, Johnny and Liu were several steps from Clarian when the lady militant aimed the Mac-10 directly at her head.

While staring down the barrel of the weapon, Sonya heard Liu as he screamed and executed a flying kick from behind her. Liu flew ahead with all the strength and speed his legs could summon as he held his right leg perfectly ahead of the rest of his body. The bottom of his right foot hit Clarian's Mac-10 without harming her and the weapon flew out of her hand as it fired several rounds in every direction. Several of the bullets impacted into the ceiling over Sonya's and Johnny's head and worsened the already damaged stone. Large chunks of stone rained down on them both as some pieces hit Johnny on the head and shoulders, knocking him down.

As the actor was on his hands and knees, trying to recover from the blow, Liu took on an oversized opponent by attacking Blud while Sonya charged towards Clarian. The first hit she delivered against the lady militant was a kick to the stomach, which sent that one staggering several steps back. Catching her breath, Clarian charged back against her. Sonya took a large and quick step to her left as the militant reached her. Since Clarian was running too fast, she could not stop once she reached the spot where Sonya used to be. While she was still dashing forward, unable to stop, Sonya twisted to her right and delivered a massive kick to the back of her head. Since Clarian was bolting forward at the time, the impact of Sonya's ankle into the back of her head was more incapacitating than it would ordinarily have been. It was enough to make her see stars, knock her down harder than usual on her stomach and convince her not to try to get back up.

Liu, in the meantime, saw Blud's right fist coming straight for his face. He grabbed his opponent's wrist with his left hand and sent his own right wrist into Blud's rib cage, breaking at least one rib. As his adversary cried out in pain, Liu sent his right leg perfectly ahead of his body so the bottom of his right foot uppercut Blud's chin and snapped his head back. Screaming out again, Blud managed to stagger back without losing his balance since the advantage of size was his, although Liu was sure he would be vanquished soon. Wanting to reach his goal, the While Lotus monk swiftly took two steps towards Blud and then jumped up. While in mid-air, Liu leveled both his bent legs in front of his waistline and then straightened them out with almost lightning speed. The bottom of both his feet slammed into Blud's torso in the area between the chest and the stomach. The militant fell on his back with a shriek at the same time as Liu did, although Liu was a bit faster in jumping back up to his feet. Not wanting to be defeated by someone smaller again, Blud desperately pulled himself back up to his feet, giving Liu what he believed was a perfect opportunity to deliver a decisive blow. Unfortunately, the White Lotus member did not get another chance to strike because he saw Blud instinctively aiming his left arm at him. Liu bolted forward and grabbed the artificial arm before it could be fired. The struggle between the two combatants pushed the arm/rocket launcher up as it aimed towards the ceiling. Then, without Liu knowing how, Blud's arm coughed and a forty millimeter rocket shot out of it and blew into the ceiling, tearing it apart.

Dust and rocks showered over all five individuals as they all coughed and tried to protect themselves from acquiring any more injuries. A large hole opened up in the ceiling and, by the time Sonya, Liu and Johnny gained their senses, they realized Blud was nowhere to be found. He had escaped while he had the chance and had left Clarian behind. That one, on her part, did not wish to abandon the battle so easily, despite the fact that she was outnumbered three to one. She hastily tried to crawl to the area where her Mac-10 rested on the floor. Just as she was about to reach it, Liu grabbed her by the back of her collar and, despite her resistance, pulled her up to her feet. She turned around and tried to struggle against someone who was clearly superior to her, although she would never admit it. She unsuccessfully attempted to punch or knee him several times before Liu twisted her around and firmly wrapped his right arm around her chest and upper arms at once. Although he had only used one of his arms, Clarian felt like she was being held by an unbreakable chain.

"Control yourself!", Liu ordered in a stern voice.

He then surveyed the damage done by Blud's rocket.

"Are you two unharmed?", he asked next of his two fellow kombatants.

"Where did he go?", Johnny pondered out loud about Blud, "Where is he?".

His response told Liu he was allright and Sonya seemed to be fine also as she stared down on the dusty floor at Clarian's Mac-10 as that one was still being held in Liu's grip. After inspecting the weapon for a few seconds without touching it, the lady kombatant kicked it as far as she could in the household. She then grabbed Clarian's front collar with her right hand as she locked eyes with Blud's accomplice.

"Let her go, Liu", she asked him, so he complied.

"Johnny? Liu?", she then addressed them both in a voice that was too calm after what she had been through as her eyes were still on the militant, "Would you excuse us for a few minutes?".

Both guys thought about it and decided they trusted her enough, so they agreed. On their way out, they pointed to the door to indicate that they would be right outside if she needed assistance, which she understood and confirmed. As soon as Johnny closed the door behind him and Liu, Sonya pulled Clarian closer to her, eyes again locked.

"I asked them to leave because I think they'll have a problem with what I'm about to do", Sonya sounded menacing, "I could see it in the way Liu treated you, despite everything you tried... Now, I'm gonna make this nice and simple. You tell me what I wanna know, you don't get hurt. You don't tell me, you do".

Clarian did not answer, only stared into the former lieutenant's eyes, wishing she had her Mac-10 back.

"Where's Blud? Where's he going?", Sonya pressed.

Clarian still did not answer. Realizing she needed some convincing, Sonya released the grip on her collar a split second before she twisted to her right and kicked the militant behind the right knee. Clarian gasped as her legs were pulled out from under her and she was knocked down on her back. Not wanting to give her a chance to recover, Sonya gripped the front of her collar and smoothly pulled her up to her knees. As Clarian snapped her teeth because of the yank, Sonya uppercut her under the chin and sent her falling back down on the dusty floor, again on her back and in a lot more pain.

"TALK!!", Clarian's interrogator ordered.

Still not hearing a response, Sonya filled the void the silence created in the room.

"You helped him kill all those people and he just left you behind!", she was almost screaming, "He didn't stay to try to take you with him!".

Reasoning with the militant didn't seem to have any effect. Sonya gripped her front collar again with her left hand and dragged her back up, this time on her feet and all the way to her full height. She then angrily stared at the militant from just a few inches away.

"See, sweetheart, you're at least an accessory to murder", the kombatant went on, feeling every word, "Or _murders_ should I say. That means if the DA's pissed off, you'll get life. Of course, you don't _have_ to worry about prison because I'm gonna beat you to death right here if you don't spill it".

Still hearing nothing from her, Sonya turned her right hand into a fist and punched her in the jaw with all the force her arm allowed. Clarian's head snapped to the right as she lost her balance and felt numbness in her face. She would have fallen back on the ground, but Sonya had a strong grip on her front collar which forced her to keep standing.

"You can't do this!", the militant complained, dizzy and in pain.

"I aien't a cop! And you don't have any rights!", Sonya shot back, "Wadda you gonna do? _Sue_ me? Well, dead people can't sue! And I doubt you've got any relatives who'll obsessively pursue the matter!".

Her last statement was followed with a second hard punch with her right hand into Clarian's stomach.

"Please!!", the militant pleaded as she unsuccessfully tried to bend over, coughing.

"Is that what those people said when your boyfriend blew them up?!", Sonya was not in the mood for mercy, "Or maybe the guard who was in that tower?".

The ex-Special Forces member next pulled the militant back up to her full height again and sent forth another solid punch to the jaw. Clarian's whole body snapped back as she tasted blood and felt a pair of loose teeth in her mouth, but like before, Sonya would not release her grip to let her fall down.

"Allright, allright!", Clarian shakily whispered because she suspected she could not take another hit, "He's going to the airport. He said... He said he was gonna get his revenge on you and after you were dead, there was a flight out of here... Flight... Flight 1066... He had tickets for the both of us".

While still forcing her to stay at her full height, Sonya pulled her right arm back in a manner than hinted she was ready to strike again. It convinced Clarian because the militant pulled her head back as far as possible and tried to hold her hands in front of her.

"You're not lying to me now, are you?", Sonya demanded.

"No, I swear! That's the truth!".

"I'll call the police as soon as I get out of here", Sonya let her know as she lowered her threatening right arm, although she still held on to her collar, "You gotta watch out what kind of boyfriends you keep, sweetheart. Boyfriends who hit you are no good".

With that, Sonya released her left grip on Clarian's collar a split second before she sent a powerful uppercut with her right fist. The only reaction Clarian could afford in the small amount of time allowed was that she widened her eyes as she saw the fist coming towards her. This hit snapped the militant's head back and she fell down unconscious on her back. Seeing it, Sonya stepped over her and headed outside to where Johnny and Liu were waiting.

"I know where he is", she told them as sirens were nearing the house that had exploded a block away, "Let's get to the car".

All three ran back to the car that was waiting in front of the payphone. After stopping for a split second to pick up her weapon, Sonya slipped into the driver's seat.

"Seatbelts on, guys", she warned them, knowing she would speed towards the airport...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They reached the airport in several minutes less than they should have. Sonya abruptly stopped the car in an illegal space by pressing hard on the brake, her advice for the seatbelts saving all three occupants from cuts and bruises. She then opened the driver's side door after leaving her Glock on the seat and quickly closed it before rushing toward the terminal where she instinctively believed, and hoped, flight 1066 was.

Her intuition for terminal B proved correct since she forced her way past people with Johnny and Liu following closely because they didn't know where they were headed. Sonya stopped in front of an airline employee who was standing behind a counter to ask.

"Did flight 1066 leave yet?", her voice sounded more like an command rather than a question because she still recalled her days in the military.

"You just missed it, ma'am", the lady behind the counter responded with as pleasant a voice as possible, "It went airborne just two minutes ago".

"SHIT!!!", Sonya angrily struck the counter with her right open palm.

"You wouldn't happen to be miss Blade, would you?", the employee asked, ignoring her two companions and wondering whether she should call for security.

"Yeah, that's me", she answered, surprised at the mention of her name.

"The gentleman who came in last left you this note", the clerk laughed nervously, "He said you might come by".

With that, the employee handed her a folded note. Sonya bluntly grabbed it and stood aside to let the people behind her reach the counter. At any other time, she would have thanked the clerk, but she was thinking of Blud too much as she unfolded the paper and stood next to Johnny and Liu.

"See you in Beirut", Sonya read the note loud enough to be heard by the three of them in the noisy airport.

"What is he, like, playing with us?", Johnny asked, confused.

"Yeah", she calmly answered, looking up at him, "He thought he'd kill us back there, come here and then leave. But something went wrong, so now he's daring us to follow him, to finish the game".

"Why Beirut?", Liu asked next, feeling as confused as the rest of them.

"Simple", Johnny understood, "It's the only place in this whole world where American agents won't follow. The arm of the law might be long, but even _it's_ afraid to go there".

"Excuse me, ma'am?", Sonya forced her way past the man who was standing at the counter and talking to the employee, "Where does flight 1066 go? Where's it headed?".

"Jerusalem, Israel", the clerk gave another nervous smile.

"Thank you. I'm sorry", Sonya apologized to the man as she withdrew from the counter.

"He's trying to confuse us!", Liu exclaimed.

"No, I don't think so", Sonya gave an educated guess, "In order for him to go to Beirut and survive, he's gonna need weapons first, weapons that he doesn't have now. I think he plans to go to Israel, stock up on his arsenal and _then_ go to Beirut. He won't stay in Jerusalem long because that country is somewhat friendly with us and could try to grab him at our request, though... So, to find him, I have to hurry".

The drive back home was a long one. Although the three kombatants did not speak much, Sonya was trying to figure out in her mind the words she was going to have to use when telling her father of her plans.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back home, she had asked both guys if they would mind leaving her alone with her father. Johnny, knowing she needed her privacy and being the gracious gentleman that he is, took Liu for a tour of his expensive hotel room without telling her his thoughts on the matter. The phone in her living room rang while Sonya and her father were in the middle of discussing, or arguing about, the idea. Sonya picked it up since she was closer to it.

"Yeah?", she frankly asked.

"Miss Blade?", the person on the other end greeted.

"That's me".

"I'm Paul Woodman. You came for an interview at the supermarket where I manage last week?", one of the potential employers that she had been looking for went on, "We're ready to give you the position. You'll be making two dollars above minimum wage to start. Can you come in on Monday?".

"Shit! I don't believe this", she rubbed her forehead with her free hand, her response not being the kind that Woodman had predicted.

"You _said_ you were interested in the job, miss Blade", he said, trying to make sense of her reaction.

"I know, I know", Sonya felt sorry she had to reply in such a way, "I _do_ want it. But I can't come in, Mr. Woodman... Something came up, and, uh... It's an emergency. I aien't gonna be around for a while".

"Oh, I'm sorry", the manager answered.

"Me too. I appreciate you calling, though", Sonya laughed slightly, "I don't suppose the job will still be around in a couple of weeks?".

"I don't know about that, miss Blade. I could see what I could do, but I just don't think so".

"Yeah, I figured. Thanks anyway".

"Good luck, whatever you're doing", the manager told her.

"Thank you", she hung up, hating the fact that she had to turn him down.

"Was that a job offer?", her father demanded.

"Yeah, the first one", she said.

"You don't know what that place is like", Herman Blade went on, "You're not prepared for it. And you're turning down a _job_ because of it?".

"Blud killed those people because of _me_!", she countered, "If I let him get away with this, it's gonna annoy me. And if it annoys _me_, then I'm gonna be a pain in _your_ neck from now until the day one of us dies!".

"So you're going to _Beirut_ to appease your conscience?!".

"Hopefully, it will just be Israel", Sonya was genuinely trying to calm his fears, "If things go right, I could be back in a few days".

"If things go _right_?!", her father repeated her words, "Things never go right down there! You don't know what you're getting into!".

"Look, daddy. I want your consent on this", she calmly answered, "But if you refuse, then I'm going without it".

"What _is_ it about you kids that you can never back away from a fight? You sound just like your brother the day before he died! Why can't you walk away sometimes?... That Scott kid came here with a hole in his stomach and he was lucky to be alive and he _still _wants to go back!".

Sonya didn't answer this time, mainly because she couldn't.

"I'm assuming those guys are coming with you?", her father asked, referring to Johnny and Liu.

"Ooh, no!", Sonya spoke up, "This fight is mine. I'm already responsible for what happened to Scott. I aien't doing the same to them".

"You're being ridiculous", her father crossed his arms, "I can't let you go, it's for your own good".

"Get off it, daddy!", she angrily snapped back, "I'm twenty-six years old!"

"Then why do you still call me 'daddy'?".

The question sounded more insulting than her father intended it to be.

"Oh, _that's_ how you wanna play this!", she replied.

"No, it's not. But what would _you_ do if your only child wanted to go to the center of a warzone just to appease her conscience?".

Sonya had to admit to herself that she would react in the exact same way her father was.

"Are you gonna stop me?", she challenged instead.

"I can't. You're twenty-six, remember?".

"Good. Because, on top of the Glock, I need a couple of things before I go... Mainly a uniform and an AK-47. I figured you could get them for me".

"Sweetheart", her father chuckled, "I may not be able to stop you, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna _help_ you do this".

Just then, Johnny used his key to open the door and let himself and Liu into the living room.

"Was that time enough?", the actor asked, his sunglasses on.

"What's going on?", Sonya curiously asked in her own turn, surprised to see them.

"I just booked us three seat to Jerusalem", Johnny proudly declared, "Flight takes off tomorrow at six AM sharp".

"You did _what_?", she demanded.

"Yeah. I already called and canceled all my filming", the actor grinned, "So make sure you get plenty of sleep tonight".

"You two aren't coming with me!", she seemed to be ordering them, again.

"Excuse me, Sonya", Johnny sounded defiant for the first time ever because of her tone of voice, "But if I remember right, _you're_ no longer in the military. So where does it say you can order us around? Even if you _were_ still in the Special Forces, we're not".

"What the hell's _with_ you guys?", she confronted, "You always have to play hero?".

"Actually, Sonya, I think it's a good idea", Liu calmly told her, "We should look out for each other. I'm sure your father would agree".

"Hey, I'm just the wage earner around here", Herman Blade put his hands up, "Don't get me involved".

"You're not changing our mind, Sonya", Johnny stated, "No matter how much you try".

"I gotta get some air", Sonya's father told anyone who was interested before he walked out of his own home.

She knew she was in for a long night.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was awake around 4:10 AM since the tension in her mind kept her from enjoying a much needed rest period before leaving for a completely different part of the world. She had spent the previous night gathering any clothing she thought she might want to wear before spending the entire night tossing and turning in bed. She knew her father had not changed his mind and neither had she, which is why she was having such a hard time. Venturing off into the Middle East was difficult enough, but not having her father's blessing made things infinitely worse.

She didn't even know if she would be able to speak to him again before she and her two fellow kombatants left. She also didn't understand Johnny's and Liu's insistence on accompanying her, despite the fact that she was the sole one who had any military training. Slowly rising out of her bed, she opened her eyes and noticed an unexpected sight.

On a nearby chair lay a commando outfit. She recognized it because it was wrapped in a clear plastic cover, just like the one she had received from Major Briggs the day she went after Kano. On top of the neatly-wrapped ensemble rested a loaded AK-47 with half a dozen extra clips taking space near the feet of the chair. Pleasantly surprised, Sonya almost jumped out of bed and decided to try the outfit on before exiting the bedroom and seeing anyone...

It fit her perfectly. The only thing missing was the black cap she knew usually accompanied the outfit. She realized that she missed wearing the commando uniform, although she had never given it much thought when she was in the service. A more disciplined sense of professionalism had always overcome her when she was dressed in such a way, feeling the tight getup from her neck down to her feet. Following what had almost been a tradition when she had the black outfit on, she used a knot to tie her blonde hair at the back of her head so it wouldn't get into her eyes by accident. Grabbing the AK-47 as well as the Glock from under her pillow, she walked out. The first, and only, person she saw was her father, who was understandably awake also.

"Thanks, daddy", she smiled at him.

She dropped both weapons on the floor and rushed over to hug him.

"I still don't like this whole idea", her father whispered after they separated, "You just promise to be careful out there".

"Definitely", she assured him, still smiling.

"Just make sure you come back to me", he kissed her on the forehead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Johnny and Liu showed themselves at exactly 5:15 in the morning. They had both packed several days of clothes in a gym bag which they carried, making sure their gear was not too heavy.

"Now, the only thing left to do is to find a way to bring those pieces with us", Sonya told them, referring to her Glock and the AK-47, "The best option is to...".

"Let me take care of that", Johnny cut her off in midsentence.

"What?", she asked, curious and baffled.

"Let me have the pistol and the machine gun", the actor explained, "I'll take care of it".

"How?", she couldn't stop asking.

"Just trust me, OK?", Johnny took both weapons as well as the clips for the AK-47 and his own gym bag and proceeded into the kitchen, "Don't follow me now, you hear?".

Sonya, her father and Liu were completely surprised by what they had seen, so much that they did not go after him. Johnny emerged from the kitchen after less than five minutes holding only his gymbag.

"Where are the pieces?", Sonya was the first to bring up the question that was on all their mind.

"In the bag", Johnny proudly announced.

"You can't take'em past the metal detectors in the airport", Sonya thought he already knew, "We've got to...".

"Will you trust me on this?", Johnny demanded in the way an adult might talk to a small child, "This is something that Scott showed me when he arrived here".

"And what was that?".

"If I told you, it wouldn't be special, now would it?".

"Fine", Sonya gave up, more confused than ever, although she trusted the three men in that living room with anything, "But if you get busted in the airport, I don't know you".

"Thanks for your loyalty", Johnny scorned, grinning, "At least Liu will stick by me".

"You assume too much, partner", Liu spoke up, smiling back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After a few more minutes, a perplexed Sonya and Liu as well as a confident Johnny left the residence to drive to the airport with Sonya's father. He was there in order to drive the car back once they had boarded the plane. Following an unusually calm ride in the car, all three said good-bye to Herman Blade and proceeded towards the waiting plane.

Although both Sonya and Liu expected the metal detector to sound an alarm as soon as Johnny stepped through it, it did not. They both stared at him, feeling more bewildered than ever as he calmly kept on walking, although with a wide grin on his face, as if nothing had happened....

The flight to Jerusalem was long and uneventful. All three discussed subjects that were totally irrelevant to the reason they were going there. They almost looked like they were on vacation, except for the pitch-black outfit Sonya was wearing...

Once on the ground, it took them about two hours to find a four-door car to rent as well as what would be considered the Israeli equivalent to a motel room. It was a nice place to stay at for a few days. Every room had a small balcony that overlooked the mild city. They paid for everything with American cash, which people were glad to accept....

"So what happens now?", Johnny asked once they had settled down in the motel room.

"Before I tell you that, you have to tell us what you did with the pieces", Sonya replied.

"Relax, sweetheart, they're here", the actor announced as he opened his gym bag and emptied the contents on the only bed available.

Among the pieces of clothing were the Glock, the AK-47 and its six extra clips.

"_How_??", Sonya simply had to know.

"Maybe I'll tell you", Johnny knew he was toying with her, "_Someday_... What happens now?".

"OK", Sonya dropped the subject, for now, "Blud is here to pack heat. If we let him get them and go to Beirut, he'll disappear. We'll _never_ be able to find him then".

"So we have to intercept him here", Johnny reasoned, "How?".

"He wants guns. Major ones, not just toys. Or else he could've gotten that anywhere", Sonya kept on explaining, "We turn up the heat here, demand to speak to the biggest gun dealer around. We find him, we might find Blud. This is where the cash comes in handy".

"For once, I am glad you chose show business", Liu addressed Johnny.

"Right. And there's no better time than the present to start", Sonya smiled at them both.

It was a smile that indirectly told them she was glad they were with her. She next checked to make sure the Glock was still loaded and placed it inside her outfit before walking out of the room.

"By the way", Johnny spoke up as all three went towards the motel manager, "Who gets the bed? There's only one".

"Well, _I _do, of course", Sonya told him, expecting a humorous scenario, "_I'm_ the lady".

"Since when?", the actor challenged.

"Ooooh, a comedian now", she repeated Scott's words to her when they were in the mall.

"Come on, just because you're the different sex", Johnny went on.

"Well, look. What was that you told me when we were on Shang Tsung's island", she answered, "You said 'it's a guy thing'. Well, won't this 'guy thing' allow me to have the bed while you sleep on the floor? The floor's not _that_ dirty".

"She's got a point, partner", Liu addressed Johnny.

"That means you'll be sleeping on the floor too!", the actor shot back.

"What??", the White Lotus monk acted shocked as they were nearing the motel manager.

"Hey, you", Sonya's expression turned to serious as she pretended to order the manager to listen, which proved to be uncomfortably easy.

"Yes?", the manager asked nervously in an accent, knowing they only spoke English.

"We wanna know where to find some heat", Sonya went on, placing a hundred dollar bill in the man's pocket and widening his eyes as he saw the denomination on the bill, "You know what I mean, right?".

The manager pretended not to as he shook his head.

"The lady means guns, genius", Johnny spoke up, "Good ones. There's plenty more of that money if you get us in touch with the best dealer in this goddamn place. Got it?... Pay him again, just so he won't get a memory lapse after we leave".

Sonya put a secondhundred dollar bill in the man's pocket with an air of superiority.

"We'll be back in six hours", Johnny went on, "You just make sure you have something for us, OK?".

With those words, all three kombatants walked away from the manager looking a pompous as they could. Their arrogant attitude faded as soon as they walked out of the motel to get some air and find something to do for the next six hours. They didn't have much time to relax, though.

Without any warning, they heard automatic gunfire from about thirty feet away. Johnny and Liu hurriedly ducked for cover in a panic as Sonya instinctively withdrew her pistol. She twisted around towards the source of the gunfire and aimed the weapon at the person who was holding an AK-47.

It took her an instant to realize that the person, who was a middle-aged man, was not aiming at them. He wasn't aiming at anyone. He was just standing outside his small shop and firing an AK-47 into the air to see if it was functional. Seeing that it was, the man went back into his shop without even noticing her, although many others quickly became aware of her behavior.

"He was testfiring it", she whispered to herself as Johnny and Liu stood back up, "He was testing his piece".

"You OK, Sonya?", Johnny asked after he was on his feet, "Put it down".

"Yeah, sure", she slowly lowered her arm, "Daddy was right. This _is_ a different place. Maybe I should call him and tell him he was right".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After some time, and in a different area of the globe, Scott had a short time off at the base in Hong Kong. He decided to spend it by calling his former boss to see how things were going in her life. Instead of Sonya, the only person he got on the other end of the phone was her father. The conversation quickly became interesting.

"She's _where_?", were the first words out of Scott's mouth when Sonya's father told him about her whereabouts.

"She's in Israel now", Herman Blade went on, "She thinks Blud is going to Beirut and wants to stop him".

"Well, _where_ in Israel?", Scott asked.

Sonya's father told him the name of the motel she and her two comrades were staying at.

"I can't believe that. It sure isn't what I expected to hear when I dialed this number, that's for sure", Scott told both himself and her father.

"Listen, son, can I ask you something personal?", Herman Blade decided to bring a subject up that had been in his mind.

"Sure".

"Just be honest with me. Do you hold my daughter responsible for what happened to you when you came here?".

"What?? No!!", Scott was shocked, "Where the hell did you get an idea like that?".

"From her, actually".

"That's crazy! She didn't force me to go against those militants! What the hell have you been doing to her? Are you brainwashing her or something?".

"It's not me, son!", Herman Blade found himself on the defensive all of a sudden, "But I think she still blames herself for your injuries as well as the eleven people that lunatic had murdered ever since his jail break".

"Oh, well, that sure sounds like her", Scott became calmer, "Look, I'll make sure to talk to her about it. When that is, I really can't tell you".

"Me neither".

Major Briggs walked into the barracks as Scott ended the conversation with Sonya's father and hung up the phone.

"That was Sonya's father", Scott told him.

"Oh yeah?", Jax seemed pleased to hear her name, "How's the lieutenant doing?".

"Major, she's going to Beirut... She's in Israel now".

"Where?", the major was surprised.

"You heard me. I mean, Beirut?! Don't they stone women just for _looking_ at guys funny over there?".

"I hope not. I'd hate to be the guy who's told to take out Lieutenant Blade", Jax responded.

Major Briggs stopped for a few seconds.

"What?", Scott wondered.

"You know", Jax told him, "I _do_ have my two-week vacation that I haven't taken so far. And, since you're my responsibility, if I took off, chances are, so would you".

Scott didn't immediately understand what he was talking about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once they were back in the motel later on that evening, the manager signaled that he'd like to talk to the three American visitors. As soon as he had their attention, he began to whisper, desperately trying to make sure he wasn't being overheard.

"A man will meet you here tomorrow at ten in morning", he explained, "He only takes American dollars and is best around".

"You're _sure_ he's the best", Sonya pressed.

"Yes, yes!", the manager exclaimed, feeling more nervous.

"OK, you did good", Johnny reassured, his arrogant pretense back on his face.

"Yeah", Sonya agreed, sending a sense of relief through the manager as she calmly placed yet another twenty dollar bill in his pocket before all three left...

"So what happens now?", Liu wanted to know as many details as possible.

"Simple", Sonya did not know much more than him, "We meet this guy and drill him until he tells us where Blud is".

"That is", Johnny corrected, "Assuming he even _associates_ with our comic book reject".

"He does", Sonya sounded more confident than him, "You heard the manager. He's the best around".

"Fine", the actor conceded, "But we better make sure to get some rest if we're gonna go hunting with a jackhammer tomorrow".

"I couldn't agree more", Sonya told him as she removed the sweatshirt that was part of the commando outfit.

She lightly tossed the sweatshirt on the bed before withdrawing the Glock and placing it under the pillow.

"If you guys want some company while sleeping, the AK is available", she humorously told them.

"That's not such a bad idea, considering where we are", Johnny answered, taking her advice seriously.

"Look, guys", Sonya said as she removed her boots because her conscience bothered her, "The bed _is_ big enough. If you guys have a problem sleeping on the floor, you could both take the bed. Or we could even get other rooms, we have the money".

"Nah! I always move too much in my sleep anyway", the actor replied, trying to ease her guilt, "I'll be fine on the floor. And as for another room, noooo thanks. This place is dangerous enough when I'm_ with_ you two".

"Same here", Liu told her.

After both guys had settled a pillow and any available covers on the floor, Sonya crashed on the only available bed wearing the commando pants and tank top.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She woke up the next morning at sunrise. After her eyes were wide open, she quickly noticed that Liu was not in the spot where he had slept. Mildly worried, although she knew she shouldn't be, she quietly got out of bed. She saw Johnny still sleeping soundly with his left hand gently resting on the muzzle of her AK-47 even though he had never fired the weapon before.

While on her feet barefoot and scanning the entire room, she caught sight of Liu sitting in the balcony with his back to the room. As she was about to walk up to him in order to ask him if something was on his mind, the corner of her eye saw Johnny standing up. He wasn't asleep after all.

"I wouldn't disturb him", the actor whispered some advise to her, "He's been like that for over thirty minutes now. After everything he's seen, only God knows what he's thinking about right now".

"He's meditating?", Sonya whispered back.

"I think so".

"Well, then. We better _not_ disturb him", she quietly agreed...

Liu was his usual self within two hours. All three grabbed a quick bite to eat after changing the previous day's clothes and making sure they had plenty of cash for the gun dealer they were supposed to meet.

At ten AM sharp, their affiliate showed himself. He was a young man, at most as old as Johnny, and he recognized his possible business partners because he was told to look out for two men and a blonde. It was an easy task because he couldn't remember the last time he saw a blonde in blue jeans in his country.

"And what can I do for you?", the young man asked, sitting down at their table.

"We're looking for major firepower", Sonya bluntly stated, "Can you get it?".

"I think so", the man answered, "The question is, do you have the means to pay for it".

"Yes", Johnny clearly pronounced a single word.

"Not to pry or anything", Sonya went on, "But we'd like to know. How do we know these weapons we're getting are the best? Where do you get them from?".

"And I'm supposed to just _tell_ you people?", the young man replied.

"Hey!", Liu spoke up, "We're just looking out for the quality of our merchandise! If you have a problem with that, then maybe you should get up and leave now!".

"Allright!", the gun dealer held his hands up, "I'll tell you. They belong to the Mossad. Or at least they _did_ before I left it".

"OK, that's better", Liu seemed satisfied.

"I'll ask again, do you have the means to afford it?".

"How much would it mount up to?", Johnny asked.

"Twenty thousand. American", the former Mossad agent stated.

"_Twenty grand_?", Johnny repeated with an air of disbelief, "Do you know I could get a perfect AK-47 for about fifty bucks here?".

"I see you've been shopping around. That's fine", the gun dealer defended his price, "But what you'll be getting here is_ far_ more deadly, and reliable, than those... Toys!".

"Like what?", Johnny seemed genuinely concerned, so Sonya and Liu just let him do the rest of the talking.

"I can get you M-60 machine guns", the young man proudly told them, "Armor piercing rockets, grenade launchers, as well as our specialty... Guns that are just as fast as your AK-47's but with one major difference. The bullets go through the so-called 'bulletproof vest' like regular bullets go through paper".

All three kombatants stayed silent for a few seconds.

"I got the money", Johnny broke the uneasy silence, "Where do we get the merchandise?".

"This afternoon. At five. Outside this building", the gun dealer told them, "You bring the money, I bring your merchandise, and we all live to enjoy ourselves".

Without another word, the former Mossad agent briskly stood up and left the table...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several hours had passed. Almost one hour before the scheduled rendezvous, Sonya was driving the rented car back to the motel with Liu in the front passenger seat and Johnny in the backseat. Her Glock was safely tucked near her hip as the AK-47 rested next to her lap. They had been out making the best of their situation by actually trying to relax. As they neared the motel, Sonya noticed the scarce number of people who were around, in contrast with the previous day when the area was crowded. Approaching the motel, she next noticed a line of about a dozen men who were standing on its rooftop.

"What is this? The welcoming committee?", she asked out loud, even though her two passengers did not seem to realize the scene on the roof.

Johnny and Liu were too busy scanning the area around the motel to become aware of what she saw. They still hadn't understood anything when Sonya saw the dozen men on the roof taking cover behind rock boulders and then each aiming an AK-47 towards their car.

"Get out of the car!!!", Sonya snapped, slamming on the brakes and gripping her AK-47.

"What?", Johnny still hadn't seen the danger, although Liu just had.

"THEY'RE GONNA KILL US!!!", she screamed, "GET OUTTA THE CAR!!!".

Her yelling warned the actor not to doubt her judgment. All three kombatants opened their own door and bailed out of the vehicle a split second before fierce gunfire ate its way into it. Pieces of glass blew out of the car and its tires exploded amid the earsplitting noise. The two seconds that it took the gunmen to concentrate their fire on the fleeing targets instead of the car was enough for Johnny and Liu to duck for cover behind a fish stand.

As Sonya bolted towards a parked car, carrying her AK-47 in her left hand, she quickly realized that one of the gunmen on the roof had gotten careless. While all his comrades had only their head and arms in view during the ambush, this one was standing tall and his entire body was visible from the waist up.

With bullets punching into the ground beside her, Sonya gave a huge leap towards the back of the parked vehicle from eight feet away. While still in the air, reaching relative safety, she gracefully raised her left arm in front of her face and aimed for the neglectful gunman. A hard pull of her left index finger sent at least one round which exploded into the reckless gunman's chest. Sonya didn't see or hear him scream and fall on his back because she landed on the asphalt behind the parked vehicle as her target was hit.

She didn't even know for sure if her bullet had struck flesh because she was pinned behind the rear of the car. She desperately pressed her right cheek against the metal, hoping none of the rounds fired would hit her or her two comrades. The hoping only lasted a split second, though, because she then scanned the area, looking for a place they could run to. The first possible area she spotted was an alley about thirty feet behind Johnny and Liu and about fifty feet behind her.

Sonya was still trying to find a plan to get all three of them out alive when the corner of her eye caught a movement from her comrades' hideout. She partly turned to see Liu picking up a rock which was about the size of a baseball. She didn't have long to wonder about what he planned to do with it because the White Lotus monk angrily hurled it towards the rooftop about fifty feet away. As the rock was in mid-flight, she tried to understand his actions. The gunmen were all behind boulders, with only their head and arms visible. Thus, it was just about impossible to hit them, or so she thought.

The next scene she witnessed was that the rock reached the rooftop and hit one of the careful gunmen in the forehead. That one was knocked out, dropped his weapon and fell on his back without a sound.

"Johnny! Liu! Rush for the alleyway!", Sonya yelled to her partners, "I'll cover you guys, just make sure you run fast!".

"What about you?", Johnny yelled back.

"Don't worry about me, goddamnit!!", her ordering tone of voice took over again.

"Toss me your semiautomatic!", Johnny was not about to accept her self-sacrifice as rounds inched closer to all three of them, "I'll cover _you_ when we reach the alley!".

The argument seemed to make sense, so she withdrew her Glock and tossed it as precisely as she could towards them. Several rounds came close to taking flesh off her forearm and hand as she threw the pistol. As it landed just one foot away from the destroyed fish stand, Johnny had to take the same chances by sticking his arm out to grip it and pull it towards him.

As soon as Sonya saw him holding her firearm, she dared to make her head, shoulders and arms visible. The gunmen on the rooftop couldn't take advantage of the situation because they found themselves being forced to be on the defensive.

"EAT LEAD, TOUGH GUY!!!!", she screamed as she pulled on the trigger of her AK-47 with a passion.

All the gunmen quickly hid behind their respective boulders as the edge of the rooftop was torn apart from her gunfire. She made sure to wave the weapon in a 45 degree angle to cover everyone as Johnny and Liu bolted towards the alley.

Her AK-47 was empty within seconds, and she had not thought to bring along any of the extra clips for it. But a few seconds was all Johnny and Liu needed to reach safety. While standing behind the edge of the alley, the actor aimed her semiautomatic in order to return the favor. For a single moment, the gunmen believed they were safe because Sonya had stopped firing. Thus, they ventured their face as well as their weapon from behind the boulders. They quickly realized they had made a mistake because they found themselves being on the receiving end of gunfire again.

"SONYA, COME ON!!", Johnny yelled as he directed his fire towards them as well as could be expected from someone who never had to rely on firearms before.

Sonya dropped the AK-47 and dashed towards the alleyway faster than she thought was possible as her comrade kept firing. She was a few feet from the alley's entrance when Johnny fired the last of the twenty rounds. But by the time any of the gunmen realized they could venture from behind their cover, she had already reached her friends, who were just thankful she was alive.

"Let's get outta here, huh?", Sonya laughed slightly as Johnny handed her the empty Glock.

As she tucked the empty pistol away, they hurriedly turned around to follow the alleyway and quickly found out they were still in danger. The alley led to a dead end about fifty feet away. There was absolutely nowhere to run as the kombatants heard the gunmen screaming while they were trying to catch up to them. Scared and expecting to die together, the three kombatants made their way deeper into the alleyway, looking back towards the entrance and expecting the gunmen to show.

"Any ideas, guys?", Sonya nervously asked.

"Nothing", Johnny responded.

Liu said nothing as they spotted ten armed men reach the entrance and aim their weapons at the three of them. Although it should've been their execution right there, Liu found one last way he could hurt those gunmen.

"What??", he dared them, hoping they would understand English, "Even though you have us outnumbered, you're still too afraid to challenge us in a fair fight? Your spine is so weak that you have to hide behind those weapons??".

Instead of firing as expected, the leader of the gunmen lowered his AK-47 towards the ground and slowly took several steps towards them. Obviously, he did not like being called a chicken. He then turned partly to face his men and angrily said something in Arabic, which none of the kombatants understood right away. After a few seconds, though, they came to realize that he ordered them to attack because all ten gunmen lowered their weapons and charged towards them. They were willing to test their might in hand-to-hand combat, so all three comrades quickly positioned themselves in their own fighting stance.

As one gunman charged towards Sonya, holding his AK-47 over his head like a baseball bat, she twisted to her left. When he was close enough, she brought her right leg up and her right ankle crashed into his head, breaking his jaw and sending him staggering to his right. Before she could react, though, a second gunman swung his AK-47. The weapon struck her in the forehead and opened a deep cut that was about four inches long. She fell to the ground and tried to regain her concentration as she was on her hands and knees. The same gunman kicked her in the head, his steel-toed boot impacting under her chin and snapping her upper body backwards and up. Thus, she crashed into the ground again, this time on her back. Before her assailant got another chance to strike, Sonya turned to her right side, rested her hands palm-down on the ground, concentrated her weight on them and legsweeped him. The back of her ankle smoothly made contact with the gunman's boot and made him lose his balance. While that one painfully fell on his side, a third gunman kicked her in the lower back with his steel-toed boots because she was still on the ground on her right side. Sonya's head instinctively snapped back and she shrieked as pain overtook her entire body.

Johnny, in the meanwhile, greeted the first gunman who reached him differently. The actor twisted to his right and simply kicked that one in the knee as he closed in, breaking it as easily as a toothpick. The gunman screamed, dropped his weapon and staggered away in moans. The second gunman, seeing his comrade yield the fight, decided he had a better chance. He was wrong because Johnny met him with an solid uppercut under his chin and made him see stars.

Liu saw two gunmen running towards him at the same time. The first attacker briskly closed in from his right while the second closed in from his left. Confident he could execute the complicated move he was considering, Liu jumped up as high as possible when both gunmen were a handful of feet away. While in midair, he performed an almost full leg split and sent his right foot into the chest of the right gunman and his left foot into the chest of the left gunman. Both assailants instantly dropped to the ground unconscious. As soon as he came back down to a standing position, the monk was hit in the upper back with what he presumed was an AK-47. It was an extremely aching blow, one that would've brought anyone else down. But his years of discipline and training helped Liu stay defiantly on his feet. He turned around and locked eyes with his antagonist, who was shocked to see him still awake, not to mention vertical. Liu curled the fingers of both his hands inward while keeping his hands perfectly straight. Before his opponent could gather his thoughts and try to strike again, Liu pounded him with both hands on either side of the area between the stomach and the chest. The gunman fell down defeated so fast that his legs shot up into the air as he crashed back-first on the ground.

Just then, Liu's heard Sonya yelling out in pain. He turned to see her on the ground with a gunman standing over her. The White Lotus kombatant had seen enough fistfights in his life to recognize the scene. Anger flowed through him at the thought of the assailant kicking lieutenant Blade while she was down on the ground.

"NNNIIIIGGGGHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!", Liu yelled out, looking to reach Sonya's attacker in order to inflict the worst possible punishment on him.

Before he reached that one, another gunman showed himself from Liu's left side. It was a bad time to try to harm him because Liu did not feel like holding back any more. Using only his left hand, he swiftly grabbed his opponent by the collar. He then lifted his left curled arm over his head and tossed his antagonist with no difficulty at all. That one flew in a fifteen foot high perfect semicircle before landing on his head. Liu did not know or care whether he was just unconscious or worse, but the gunman did not move afterwards. Before turning his attention to anyone else, another gunman crashed yet another AK-47 into the back of the monk's head. This time, the shock proved to be too great and Liu found himself on the ground.

While that took place, two gunmen lifted Sonya back up to her feet by restraining her from behind, each gunman having one of her arms. The cut from her forehead was bleeding down her face as she struggled and saw a third gunman approaching. She could see from his face that he was planning to user her body as a human punching bag.

"Grrrrrrr!!", she growled as she used the restraining gunmen as leverage.

She lifted her curled right leg in front of her body and kicked the approaching gunman in the stomach. That one bent over, pressing his forearms over his stomach, and gasped for breath. Almost instantly, another gunman showed up to take his place. He brushed his gasping comrade aside to have fun at the American's expense. That was about as far as he got because the next thing he saw was Johnny running straight for him. The actor tackled him and slammed his back against one of the walls of the alley, knocking the wind out of him. As Johnny's newest victim sank towards the ground, dazed, the actor predicted that another assailant would be sneaking up from behind him. Acting on his instincts alone, he twisted around and swung his right arm for whomever might've behind him. The knuckles of his right fist found a gunman's jaw and felt several teeth loosening as his potential attacker twisted around and staggered away in shock. As he did that, Johnny felt a sharp pain between his shoulder blades. His eyesight became somewhat dimmer and he lost his balance.

The gunman who had originally approached Sonya and received a kick to the stomach recovered from his pain and rushed towards her. He risked more harm to himself by nearing her, but he wanted to make her pay. He grabbed her ankles and lifted her legs up as she kept on growling and struggling like a fish out of water. Before any one of them could act, she loosened her right foot from the gunman's grip and pulled it back, leaving only her left ankle in his hands. As that one tried to get his hold on her right foot back, she kicked him in the stomach again. He bent over and gasped for air for the second time, releasing her lower body and letting her feet touch the ground again.

One of the gunmen who was holding her decided to let her go and left her within the grip of his comrade. Facing Sonya, he then punched her in the stomach in her own turn, forcing her to cough and try to bend over, even though his partner would not allow it. Her remaining restrainer made sure she could not give a serious fight, and Liu and Johnny were still hurt. The free gunman picked an AK-47 off the ground and, with his back turned to the alleyway's entrance, pressed the muzzle of the weapon against her forehead. Sonya knew all three of them had put up a good fight. She closed her eyes, expecting the sudden flash of gunfire.

She heard three quick shots. But instead of feeling pain or seeing black as expected, she opened her eyes to see her potential executioner stagger backwards as he dropped his weapon. The gunman spat out blood as he slowly bent over and then fell lifelessly on the ground, never to move again. Surprised, the next scene Sonya saw was a jeep racing towards them from the alleyway entrance. The driver of the jeep concentrated on controlling the wheel. He didn't need to fire since the sole passenger was standing next to him and using the windshield for support while he held two pistols at arm's length in front of his face.

The jeep accelerated towards them as the surprised gunmen who were still capable picked up any firearms they could find. The gunman whose knee was broken by Johnny's kick limped towards an AK-47 that he spotted several feet away. His actions doomed him because the jeep swerved in his direction with a vengeance. The vehicle crashed into the gunman's body and sent it flying into its windshield. He cracked the windshield with his back and ultimately brought the jeep to an uneasy stop as the passenger was forced back into his seat. The dead gunman slipped off the hood of the jeep as all three kombatants saw who the driver was, although Sonya was the only one who recognized him.

"GET IN!!!", major Jackson Briggs screamed at them as his passenger stood back up.

Scott concentrated the majority of his weight on the damaged windshield as he aimed two Glocks at any remaining gunmen who might still be a threat. Johnny was the first one to jump into the backseat, followed closely by Liu and then by Sonya. Neither kombatant minded being cramped in such a way as the jeep quickly reversed.

"GO GO GO!!!", Scott encouraged as he observed a handful of gunmen retrieving their weapons.

The gunmen stood their ground and opened fire towards the retreating vehicle. In the three seconds that Jax needed to drive out of the alleyway, some of the AK-47 rounds punched into the windshield, coming dangerously close to both driver and passenger. Scott already had both pistols held out in front of his face and he gave a yell as he squeezed both triggers as many times as he could, although he knew he hadn't hit anyone. Sonya did her best to use herself as a shield to cover both Liu and Johnny as dozens of rounds were exchanged. Even though she knew only luck could keep all five occupants of the vehicle safe, she tried her best until the jeep finally darted out of the alleyway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In a series of rooms Jax had obtained, the kombatants was seated, wondering about their situation.

"How in the world did you guys find us?", Sonya asked as she addressed both her former superior and her former sidekick, "I _do_ owe you guys. We all do. We were dead if you hadn't come. But how did you know we were even here?".

"I called your place to see how things were", Scott explained, "Your father told me about your... adventure. He also told me which motel you were staying at. We were just on our way there to see if we could help out when we heard all the gunfire".

"It was easy finding you, lieutenant", Jax went on, "All we had to do was go towards the direction that everyone else was running away from".

"But I thought you went back to Hong Kong to finish your physical therapy all the way, Scott", Sonya pointed out as she gently touched a tissue soaked in alcohol on her head wound.

"I did. But I was the major's responsibility", Scott explained as Jax checked Johnny's shoulders to make sure there was no serious injury, "So, if _he_ took a vacation, then so would I".

"What?", Sonya asked.

"This is Jax's vacation time", Scott clarified as the major then went on to check on Liu.

"You seem to be OK", Jax talked to Johnny as he approached the White Lotus monk.

"I do not need help", Liu bluntly held his right hand up to stop him.

"You might have a concussion", Jax tried to reason, "It'd be better if I check".

"I'm fine!", Liu insisted, stepping away, "I would know if something was seriously wrong".

"Take his word for it, major", Sonya turned to Jax.

"Fine", Jax gave up, "But I'll tell you this. I never thought I'd come _here_ for my two weeks, that's for sure".

"We did good", Scott told him.

"Yeah", Jax agreed as he looked at Sonya, "But any chance of forgetting about this guy and going back to our respectable homes, lieutenant?".

"_You_ guys don't have to stay!", she countered.

"You can _say_ that after everything that's happened?", Jax demanded, "I see you haven't changed much since you met Kano, and that may be good most of the time. But we just kept you from being turned into mince meat out there. Don't you realize this place is too much for even you?".

"Look", she stood up, "If you guys wanna go, go. I can't until Blud is dead".

"But you can't do anything else, lieutenant!", Jax protested, knowing he could no longer order her, "How do you plan to find this guy now?".

"Blud doesn't like the fact that we got away", she reasoned, "I think he'll come to _us_!".

"That's crazy", Jax told everyone, "He's free! He isn't about to risk it all just because you happened to beat him up once".

"I never said Blud was sane", Sonya countered in a weary voice before she turned away and walked towards one of the other rooms to be alone with her thoughts.

"How are you guys feeling?", Jax addressed both Johnny and Liu as she left.

"Just great", Johnny responded, still trying to adjust to the pain from his shoulders.

Scott wouldn't allow Sonya to be alone because he followed her a few seconds after she was in an adjacent room. He walked in using a cane and closed the door behind him.

"What?", Sonya couldn't understand the somewhat angry look on his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?", Scott answered her question with a question of his own.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?", she realized the cycle was no good, so she stopped it, "Blud can't be allowed to live!".

"And who made _you_ this planet's guardian? You have to realize your limits sooner or later... You don't just drop everything and follow some nut halfway around the world, man!".

"This is new", Sonya told him, "I didn't expect this from you".

"What's getting yourself killed gonna do??", Scott pressed on, "Blud wants to live here! Now, hopefully, he'll get himself killed sometime, but you can't be responsible for every nutcase slash asshole out there!".

Sonya's attention saw a different aspect of the conversation as soon as Scott used the word 'responsibility' in his statement.

"Oh, when you said you talked to daddy, you didn't really say how much", she used an accusing tone.

"He's _worried_ about you!", Scott shot back, "You feel responsible for what happened to me. You feel responsible for what happened to the guard in the prison, for those ten people that asshole blew up! But I got news for you, boss. _Blud_ is responsible for killing those eleven people and _I'm_ responsible for what happened to me. Not you!".

"I'll keep that in mind", she replied in a calmer tone.

"You need to act better than this. I don't mean that as an insult, you know that. But just because you're living alone doesn't mean you don't affect anyone else".

"Hey! It wasn't my choice to live alone! _You_ left _me_!!", the amount of anger in her voice surprised even her as she first pointed her index finger at him and then pressed it against her chest.

"I'm sorry!!", Scott barked back.

He calmed down within seconds before he spoke again.

"I'm sorry", he gently repeated, "Maybe I shouldn't have. But going into this...".

"I'm not blaming you for what you did", Sonya lightly interrupted, "You have to make your own decisions... But I just can't rest while Blud is still breathing. Maybe that's wrong, but that's the truth right now. There's no point in denying the truth".

"No, there isn't", he agreed.

"Look, we came here for a reason", she sighed, "The only question is, do we go back home or do we stay and do something good. As long as we're already here...".

She didn't finish her statement because she knew Scott would understand. She patted him on the right upper arm and walked back out of the room, towards the others. He followed as he knew she might need his help with major Briggs...

"Listen, guys", Sonya announced to Jax, Johnny and Liu, "I'm sorry you found yourselves here in one way or another because of me. Maybe I was too impulsive in rushing here and looking for Blud".

"Forget about it", Johnny replied, still massaging his left shoulder, "I needed this excitement to sharpen me up anyway".

"I agree", Liu went on, "We're responsible for our own actions. I learned at least that from my encounter with Rayden. You merely suggested a path that we could follow. We decided to follow it on our own".

"What can I say?", she was pleased as she stared at Jax, anxiously waiting for his opinion, "You guys _always_ had a way of knowing what to say".

"Don't look at _me_", Jax felt her eyes, "I'm just on vacation".

"Now, our choices are pretty clear", Sonya answered, smiling, "Either we go back home, or we go after Blud. I need some suggestions".

No one spoke for a few seconds before Johnny broke the silence.

"It's a shame this guy survived when we countered his attack on the House of Representatives", the actor said, "Let's finish him off for good now".

"You read my mind", Scott supported him.

"Same here", Liu followed, "I _would_ like to see how long he could last in a fair fight".

"So wadda you got in mind, lieutenant?", Jax questioned.

"First, I'm no longer a lieutenant", Sonya replied, feeling flattered and trying not to show it, "Second, if we go back to the shootout sight, we might still be able to find some of those gunmen left behind. That attack on us was not at random, it was planned. And it was planned because that Mossad gun dealer knew Blud and told him about us. We pressure one of those gunmen and we find the gun dealer. We find him, we find Blud".

"Sounds good to me", Johnny announced, "Besides, I need to go back to find the owner of the car we rented and the car that you hid behind. I figure if I pay'em about three times what their car is worth, that should make'em happy".

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"PLEEEAAASE!! NOOOOO!!", the gunman yelled out.

Jax stood at his full height on the roof of the motel, holding his right arm straight away at the shoulders and looking almost casual. The gunman feared for his life because the major was holding him upside down over the side of the roof by using only his right hand to grip the steel-toed boot.

"This is the one thing I don't get", Jax went on as if he was talking to a friend while the other four stood several feet away, "You stayed behind when you saw the five of us coming back into the alley while your pals took off running or limping or crawling. But not you. You stayed behind long enough to be tackled by the lieutenant. Why is that?".

"Maybe he wanted to prove his worth", Scott slightly laughed as he stared at the both of them.

"This is the way I see it", Jax continued, "Either you're extremely brave or extremely stupid. Which one is it?".

"AAAAGGGHH!!!", was the gunman's only answer.

"We can't heeeeaaaar yooouuu!", Scott teased, enjoying himself too much.

"Maybe he had some brain damage when Sonya landed on top of him and slammed him into the ground", Johnny commented, "That tackle _did_ seem to hurt, you know".

"Start talking, you loser!", Jax commanded, getting annoyed at the gunman's lack of cooperation.

"I will not sell out my brothers!", the gunman barked back with a heavy accent, trying to sound brave, "Drop me if you wish, but you will get nothing from me!"

Jax considered his options for a few seconds. Instead of responding verbally, he quickly shook his right arm for several inches and then pulled the gunman back up.

"AAAHH!", the gunman exclaimed again.

"I'm getting tired of this! Start talking!", Jax ordered again.

"NO! I will not!", the gunman challenged, "I am not afraid to die!".

Jax carefully chose the words for his response.

"Fine", he seemed to calmly concede defeat as he pulled his right arm back towards him, thus bringing the gunman just inches over the concrete rooftop.

Major Briggs released his captive and that one dropped on his head. The gunman moaned as he stayed on his back and held the top of his head. He wondered what the Americans were up to as he saw Jax walking away from him towards the others.

"What are you doing?", the gunman asked, feeling suspicious, "Why did you spare my life?".

"Oh, I didn't", Jax partly turned his head as he was getting further away, "I can't kill you myself, so I'm gonna give you over to the lieutenant".

At the mention of the word 'lieutenant', the gunman's eyes bulged wide open with fear and he tried to crawl as far away as possible.

"No!! You can't do this!!", he cried out as Jax kept walking away, "PLEASE! BY ALLAH, HAVE SOME PITY!! NOO! BY ALLAH, NO!!".

The fear and panic in him only worsened as he saw Sonya approaching him and sadistically licking her lips while she cracked her knuckles.

"Meet us back when you're done with him, OK Sonya?", Johnny told her as all four guys pretended to walk away.

"NOO!! You can't leave me with the she-devil!", the gunman called out to them while he was still on the ground, "PLEASE!!".

"_Try_ to keep an arm or a leg intact this time so in case his family wants to bury what's left of him, boss", Scott advised Sonya as they kept walking away.

"I'll try, but I ain't promising anything", she replied as she coldly smiled down at the terrified gunman, "There's this new experiment I'm just _dying_ to carry out".

Her potential victim held his arms out in front of his head and closed his eyes as he turned his face as far away from her as possible.

"Please, American!", he called at them again, "I'll tell you what you want to know! I'll tell you where dealer is! Call her back!".

Satisfied, Jax stopped along with the others and looked at his wristwatch and then at the gunman.

"You have five seconds to start talking", he warned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The information gathered from the gunman was more than anyone could have hoped for. He had familiarized the kombatants about the exact whereabouts of the former Mossad agent, as well as telling them specifically how to reach that one's desert hideout. The man had just finished talking eagerly as he stayed seated on the ground while his interrogators kept on their feet, forming a tight circle around him. All the men had their arms crossed at one time or another, but the one interrogator that the gunman continued to stare at with fear in his eyes was the female one. Fortunately for him, the female with the yellow hair had not tried to attack him at all.

"Anything else?", Jax spoke first after the gunman had ceased talking.

"Nah, I think we got everything we want", Sonya replied to him, ignoring the gunman whose stare never left her.

"Great to hear", Johnny added, putting his sunglasses on, "Let's be useful and let's all get lost then. This place gives me the creeps".

"What do you plan to do with me?", the gunman abruptly spoke again, nervously awaiting his fate.

"See, it's simple", Sonya told him with a bored look on her face, "Whichever direction we go, you go the opposite. And we never see you again".

The man returned her stare without answering.

"Got it?", she continued as she pressed her right index finger into her forehead.

The gunman quickly nodded his head that he understood and then started to get back up on his feet. As he did, his interrogators dispersed from the circle and began walking away. Before anyone at the scene was able to travel more than a few steps, though, everyone's ears caught the sharp sounds of machinegun fire. The kombatants' instincts sprung into action as they ducked for cover while bullets punched into the ground around their feet and passed through the air merely inches away from their body. Seeing the source of the new gunfire, the man who was being interrogated only moments earlier sighed in relief and bolted towards its source.

It took Jax and Sonya only an instant before they had taken cover behind a nearly-destroyed wall and both had a 9mm handgun gripped with both hands. Risking a peek over the side of the decrepit wall, both soldiers caught the sight of dozens of additional gunmen who resembled the same individuals who had ambushed them earlier. The lone gunman who was being grilled earlier had almost reached the reinforcement of several approaching cars which were loaded with soldiers who were armed with AK-47's. Upon approaching the juggernaut of vehicles, the gunman then stopped running and turned around as the cars sped past him as if he was not even seen. He stood his ground, cheering and encouraging the reinforcement gunmen to annihilate his former tormentors.

"Open up and say 'ah'", Sonya commented as she levelled the 9mm weapon in front of her face and opened fire.

Rounds from the handgun burst through the tires of the first advancing vehicle, bringing it to a sudden halt. Before she was able to concentrate her fire on the passengers who exited the car, though, Sonya heard Jax yelling out a warning.

"Lieutenant! Behind us!", the major screamed.

She turned around just in time to see over a dozen additional gunmen rushing towards her and Jax on foot from just a few feet away. Instead of trying to open fire, the adversaries had held on to the muzzle of their AK-47's. The gunmen's reluctance to fire came perhaps because they did not like the idea of losing a streetfight against the foreigners earlier and wanted to prove to themselves that they could win a fistfight. No matter the reason, both kombatants found themselves in a hopeless situation. Before either one could open fire with the 9mm semiautomatics, they were engaged in a physical confrontation. Sonya delivered a sharp front kick with her left leg into the stomach of the first man who reached her, only to feel an even sharper blow into the back of her head which soon after knocked her unconscious. Jax, on the other hand, found the first two individuals who had reached him at the same time. Grabbing both men by the outside of their neck, he swiftly swung his hands towards each other, causing the first two gunmen to slam into the other one's head. As those two individuals went down, Jax was jumped by five more gunmen who eagerly replaced the first two and the only sensation he felt was the brutal succession of punches, kicks and the swings of the machine guns on his head...

The first thing Sonya saw when she wearily opened her eyes was Jax's face as the blue sky silhouetted his head. She was lying on her back on the ground as he was knelt next to her in an effort to wake her up. Finally awake, he realized she was not in any worse condition than everyone else. Both kombatants' bodies seemed to scream in agony as they struggled to their feet, visually combing the area around them. The first sight she saw was Liu, looking as beaten as she felt, as he helped Scott stand up. She was glad both men were not killed, so she found herself smiling despite the huge amount of blood that everyone in the scene was covered with. It took her a moment to realize that someone was missing. Twisting her head around frantically, Sonya finally realized that Johnny was nowhere to be found.

"Hey", she managed to whisper as she couldn't spot the actor anywhere.

Only his sunglasses could be seen resting on the ground a few steps away from the four of them.

"He's not here", Jax informed her, noticing her search for the missing kombatant.

"Then where?", she raised her voice, sounding as panicked as she felt.

She could not understand why Blud's gunmen would grab the actor. If there was anyone Blud would want kidnapped, it should've been her.

"One of those assholes said you'd now know where he is if you wanna come get him", Scott said out loud as Liu held him up to keep him from falling back down, "That was right before I tasted the end of his rifle".

The former footsoldier only stared down towards the ground as he saw the drops of blood which fell within several inches around his feet. There were several cuts all over his body, and more blood emanated from his mouth as he coughed.

"I understand", Liu spoke up angrily for the first time while still holding Scott up but addressing Sonya, "Whoever arranged this did so because he wants you to come to him, to finish the fight. You had told me you fought him twice previously, where you each won one time. Blud wants to engage you in single combat for the third time to break the tie".

"Great, some game", she coughed.

"Two out of three wins", Jax finished.

"Well, that prick had told us where the gun dealer and Blud are!", Scott became infuriated, "Let's go break'em!".

"Come on, soldier, you can't even stand up by yourself", Jax commented, "Sit this one out".

"What?!", Scott protested, "That's the stupidest...".

"That's an order", Jax interrupted.

Blud could not believe the disgraceful sight he was witnessing in the warehouse after his first planned assault on his enemy. A few of the gunmen had reached the young gun dealer he was talking to and complained that they had failed at their assignment but had then returned to the scene with help to carry out the second orders. As proof of their success, they held the famous American actor who had foiled his plans before as his hands and feet were tied up with rope.

"Can't these yahoos carry out a simple mission?", Blud snapped at the former Mossad agent, "You said you'd take care of it! If I knew they were such a bunch of morons, I would've gone there by myself!".

"Well, if you think you are so tough, why don't you go for it after I get paid?", the dealer countered, "I'm sure your new merchandise will help you no matter _who_ you go up against".

"I will!", Blud assured, "It just goes to show you. If you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself. And I wanted _everyone_ with her to be brought to me, not just _one_ of her friends!".

"Well, as soon as she wakes her, she will come looking for this man", the gun dealer pointed at Johnny, "But that should not be for quiet some time. No one can recover from the kinds of blows that my men had inflicted on her. She will need several days to recover her strength, so we can relax until then".

"It has been nice doing business with you", the dealer went on, "If there's ever anything else you need, say... Ammunition for your arm, you are always welcome to drop by here again".

"I doubt I will", was Blud's answer as he anxiously waited for a truck full of his weapons to show up.

The warehouse they were in was just one of several buildings in the desert. Although most were filled with supplies, the people around were all presently concentrated in this particular structure.

"You never know", the young dealer responded with utmost confidence.

As he finished making his statement, they both saw the truck approach them from the warehouse entrance. They neared it as the driver stopped as soon as it was inside the warehouse and walked out of it, holding the keys in order to hand them to Blud.

Blud was about twenty feet from his precious cargo when he heard a guard yelling in Arabic from outside. The militant next saw the gun dealer and the others in the warehouse trying to reach for any weapons they were carrying or found near them.

"What?", he demanded, "What's wrong?".

The next thing he heard was gunshots from outside as the guard stopped yelling. A few seconds later, Jax showed himself at the entrance just behind the truck as he carried an AK-47. Though covered in his own blood and wearing torn clothing, he smoothly fired twice and blew up both of the truck's rear tires.

"Who the fu...?", Blud asked as the gun dealer screamed, tried to duck for cover and withdrew a Mac-10 with major Briggs on his mind.

"Don't!", Jax warned him.

His advice fell on deaf ears because the dealer next leveled his weapon towards the Special Forces major. Jax was the faster of the two because he carefully pulled the trigger three more times and the dealer instantly dropped with a shriek. Blud had the bold idea of firing his forearm/rocket launcher towards the intruder, escaping and then returning for his precious weapons. All he had to do was make sure to not hit the truck as he fired. As he aimed his forearm at the intruder though, Sonya's wounded character appeared next to Jax as she held her Glock at arm's length in front of her face.

"Freeze, tough guy!!", she warned him only once with the muzzle of the semiautomatic aimed directly at his forehead.

Seeing their previous doom again, most of the remaining gunmen in the storage building decided not to fight back. They simply dropped their weapons and ran for the rear exit. Two gunmen had remained behind to help the deceased gun dealer. As they both leveled their AK-47s, Liu appeared without any warning from the entrance and executed a perfect flying kick towards the gunman closer to him. The bottom of his foot impacted into his target's chest and sent a massive flow of energy through him, knocking him to the ground before he could even aim his weapon. The man's body shook involuntarily as he spat out blood and desperately tried to regain his breath, even though he already knew he had several broken bones in his torso.

"Drop dead", Johnny commented as he saw Liu's opponent defeated while he was still lying on the ground, unable to do much more than crawl.

Sonya aimed carefully and fired a single round into the right shoulder of the second gunman. That one screamed, dropped his weapon and fell on his back as he held his shoulder with his left hand. Throughout the whole incident, Blud was the only person who wasn't involved in battle. He stood his ground as he made sure not to touch any of the weapons that tempted him to pick one up. He knew he would be safe that way and Sonya knew it also, so he disappointed her greatly.

"Put your hands up, tough guy!", she ordered as she approached him with the semiautomatic still in front of her face, just looking for a reason to blow him away.

Blud complied, wearing an icy smile on his face.

"Sorry", he whispered when she was close to enough to him, as if he could read her mind.

"Well, maybe I'll just blow you away just for the hell of it", Sonya snapped back as she stared up into the eyes of the six and a half foot tall, muscular militant.

"No, lieutenant", Jax countered as he kept watch over the two downed gunmen, "We have an extradition treaty with Israel. This prick's going back alive".

"That's almost a shame, really", Blud told her, still smiling, "I _was_ hoping you and I could go for it, one on one... Of course, if you want, all you have to do is visit me in prison and I'm sure we can still arrange it".

"We could do it right here, tough guy", she bluntly told him as she lowered the Glock.

"No! Sonya, no!", Jax spoke up.

"Mind your own business, major!", Sonya looked to her right towards Jax, "This is my...".

Although the mistake of letting down her guard in front of Blud only took about a second, Blud was able to take advantage of it. As she realized she had been careless and was about to turn her attention back to the militant, Blud rushed forward. He wrapped his right arm around her shoulders, picking her up several inches off the floor as he did. He then pressed the rocket launcher that was in place of his left forearm above her left ear.

"Drop the gun, blondie!", he ordered from behind.

Sonya released the handle of the Glock, letting it fall on the ground and denouncing herself for being so reckless. Jax instantly aimed his AK-47 at them, although he knew that not even his aim was so good that he could risk firing. Liu saw the danger and concentrated on inching closer from Blud's right.

"Stay back, whoever the hell you two are!", Blud warned, "Or she's not gonna have a head left. I don't care what you do with those losers, but I'm getting outta here".

With Sonya's hands hanging on to his massive right forearm, he walked out of the main exit backwards. He would have preferred to toss her in his truck before driving off, but Jax had made that option impossible by shooting at its tires.

"And don't try to follow!", he kept on warning as he exited the entrance, "If I see any of you following, she's dead!".

He dragged her several yards away from the entrance and into the sunny, warm air.

"Now listen here, blondie", Blud whispered into her ear as he was still moving backwards, "I'm gonna drop you and then take off. I guess I should blow your pretty little head off right now, but it's more fun when your victims put up a fight. If you want, you can run back to the warehouse and get help. But I doubt you'll do that".

He stopped as he roughly set her feet back on the ground.

"No", he continued whispering, "You want this last showdown as much as me. If you go back there, I might escape and you'll _never_ be able to live with it. So, for both our sakes, I _do_ hope you'll follow".

He loosened his right arm from around her shoulders. Before she could react, he struck her with a massive fist in the back of her head, knocking her down on her hands and knees. As she was staring down at the ground, trying to recover from the blow, he kicked her in the stomach and sent her horizontally about two feet into the air and away from him. Sonya was spun around and landed on the ground on her back as she felt the merciless heat from the sand.

"That was for my truck, you bitch!", Blud claimed before he turned around and ran as fast as he could towards one of the other buildings.

While grudgingly standing up, and trying to ignore her aching stomach, Sonya lost sight of him as he ran past some cars and disappeared behind a hangar. She began to run after him, first slowly because her head pounded. She soon picked up speed, though, and reached the edge of the hangar. Since her adrenaline level was high, she failed to see an obvious trap that could be set.

As she passed the side of the hangar and reached the rear wall, planning to go beyond it and hopefully see her enemy, Blud held out his left arm since his back was flattened against the outside rear wall. Sonya couldn't stop fast enough and quickly ran into the rocket launcher the militant had as his forearm. After her face impacted with the hard metal on his arm, her head initially snapped backwards and pounded even more. She fell down on her back as her legs were tossed upwards into the air and Blud showed himself by taking a step out from behind the rear wall. Grinning, he just stood there as he waited for her to get back up. Squinting her eyes and feeling annoyed at her lack of attention, Sonya forced herself back on her feet.

"_This_ is why I always wear pants", she reminded herself as she took one step towards him.

Before he could react, Sonya uppercut him with her right fist and sent him staggering several steps behind. Wanting to keep on punishing him, she then walked up to reach him. Blud smoothly swung and landed a perfect punch into her stomach, making the pain from his previous kick hurt more.

"OOOGGHHHOOOO!!", she bent over with both eyes wide open and her right forearm pressing into her abdomen.

"For what it's worth, blondie, you were _almost_ a half decent opponent", Blud proudly grinned as he saw her stagger several steps backwards.

Unknown to him, Sonya wasn't stepping back because of the pain. She was doing so because she wanted enough space between the two of them to execute a flying kick. Before Blud's own eyes, she slowly stood up straight, her eyes bearing a cold stare that was fueled by anger and ignoring all the pain her body was afflicted with lately. She then changed her figure into that of a fighting stance, although the only factor that seized Blud with fear was the look in her eyes.

Without having time to react, he heard "WIYAA" as he saw her flying straight for him with her right leg shooting out of her body. The bottom of her shoe slammed into his chest and sent his enormous weight sailing through the air before he landed on his back about ten feet away. Surprised, he felt the burning sand affecting the back of his legs and his torso for a split second before he pulled himself back up to his feet. The next sight his eyes caught was Sonya rushing towards him. Feeling somewhat desperate, he tried to aim his left arm at her. Before he could level it, she executed a roundhouse kick and sent the back of her ankle colliding perfectly into his teeth.

Screaming more out of shock than of pain, Blud found himself falling partly on his right side before he tasted the hot sand because he ended up face-down on the ground. Using the sand as encouragement to stand, he quickly pulled himself back up, thinking of another hit to carry out. Before he could even try to strike though, Sonya landed a punch with her right fist into his stomach. As he began to bend over in pain, she landed a second punch with her left fist into the right side of his stomach, sending him crashing into the wall of the hangar.

Hurt, dazed and bleeding from his mouth, Blud pushed himself away from the hangar wall and turned around without thinking. Sonya's next maneuver was to evenly flip upside down on her hands as she placed both her ankles on each side of the militant's chest. She knew Blud weighed far more than the average man, but she believed she could perform her signature move on him and thus permanently take him out of the fight. She proved herself right because Blud screamed as he found himself being hurled in a smooth semicircle before he landed on his back. Sonya came back on her feet and turned around, still in her fighting stance and anxious to see if her victim still had any energy to continue.

Blud disappointed her because he was still able to stand up, although only shakily and with a great deal of difficulty. He was too worn out to put up any kind of resistance, but he just had to show her that she hadn't beaten him.

"Die already!", she snapped at him as if it was his duty to stay down.

Desperately wanting to finish him, Sonya leapt both vertically and towards him as he simply stood his ground, unable to get out of the way. In mid-air, she positioned the right side of her body ahead of the left and lifted her right arm as she curled it, as if flexing to show off her biceps. Her right elbow crashed into Blud's forehead as she came back down in front of him. The militant's head snapped back and he quietly fell on his back without any resistance as fresh blood gushed out of his nose and mouth, staining her face and neck.

Standing on her feet, she gripped his collar and harshly pulled him up to his knees as she stared down at him. Her eyes seemed to be on fire as she locked them with his almost unconscious ones.

"Go ahead", Blud whispered, "Finish what you started".

"I will!", she angrily snapped back, "I'm gonna do to you exactly what you tried to do to me, you son of a _bitch_!!".

"Didn't you hear?", he mildly laughed, "If you kill me, then you're just as bad as _I_ am".

"Please!", she countered, "I crossed that line a long time ago. It's _way_ too late for that!".

She clearly remembered his actions against her during the raid on the House of Representatives. She was pondering about the most appropriate way to eliminate him for good when she heard a noise from behind her. Thinking it was Liu or Jax, she turned around ready to tell him/them that she would not let Blud go back to the United States alive. Instead of any of her fellow kombatants, she caught sight of a gunman who was wearing six sticks of dynamite and proceeding towards her from twenty feet away.

"AMERICAN!", the gunman blurted out with an accent, "YOU DIE TODAY! YOU DIE!".

Sonya only had a second to react as her eyes widened when she saw the gunman pressing a button to detonate the explosives. She pulled Blud up to his feet, spun around him and positioned herself behind the militant's back as the gunman exploded and pieces of flesh and bones shot out in each direction. The force from the explosion pushed her down on her back under Blud. She quickly pushed the militant off her and saw that, along with burned flesh, he had numerous pieces of glass in his chest and head. The suicidal gunman had done her a favor.

"Sonyaaa!", she heard coming from behind the burned vehicles.

She couldn't recognize the voice at first, but a few seconds later, Liu appeared as he made his way past the cars and the gunman's torn body towards her.

"Are you all right?", Liu asked, somewhat shaken at the sight of the gunman's remains.

"Yeah", she sighed, still seated on the ground next to Blud's corpse, "And everybody else?".

"The same. Major Briggs left to help Johnny. I thought it better to follow you two. They will be glad to see you still on your feet. We should go back to them and then report back to Scott as well".

"I couldn't agree more", she stayed seated and extended her right arm towards him as he reached her.

"Help me up", she requested as she smiled.

Liu gripped her hand with his and gently pulled her up to her feet as she coughed becuase of all the dust that surrounded them. It took them less than a minute to reach the warehouse where Jax had already freed Johnny and they were both keeping watch over the two gunmen who were apprehended alive. Jax was busy applying pressure to the shoulder of the one gunman whom she had shot moments earlier.

"Guys", she announced in a tired voice to greet everyone.

"Man!", Johnny smiled as he rubbed his wrists while he was standing, "Sure am glad to be untied. I can't tell you how much those ropes hurt my sensitive skin. Really, what's that gonna do to my image?".

"Wimp", Scott smirked.

"Thanks", the actor sarcastically answered as he turned to look at the two prisoners, "So what happens to them?"

"That's up to the major", Sonya gave a slight smile, "After all, _he's_ in charge of around here. I just wanna go home and get a job".


	5. Final Confrontation 5

The airport seemed to be more busy than it actually was. Sonya was patiently waiting among the crowd at the airport for the arrival of the airplane from Hong Kong. It was already about twenty minutes late, but she reasoned that the delay would be worth it if things worked out the way she hoped they would. As she finally saw it touching down on the runway, she knew it would only be a matter of minutes until she saw her comrade.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, Scott emerged from the entrance to the visitors' lounge holding a gym bag in each hand. He was accompanied by major Jackson Briggs, who was only a few feet behind him. One of the first things Sonya noticed about the pair was that Scott was dressed in civilian clothes while Jax was still wearing the familiar dark commando outfit. Another fact that caught her attention and pleasantly surprised her soon afterwards was that Scott was walking without the help of a cane or crutches. Not wanting to wait any longer, she hurried through the crowd to greet them.

"Guys!", she waved to attract their attention as she was several steps away.

"There she is!", Scott was the first to spot her as he pointed her out for Jax.

"Welcome back", she smiled as she came closer.

"Thank you", Scott smiled back.

"Wadda you doing here, major?", Sonya asked then as she looked at Jax, "I didn't know he had company".

"Well, you know him", Scott smirked, "He just _had_ to come with me to make sure I didn't get lost along the way".

"Of course", Jax held on to his serious facial expression, "I'm always concerned about the well-being of my soldiers, be it they're now _ex_-soldiers".

"Well, I'm touched by your consideration, major", she let him know.

"That and this was a stop on my trip to Langley", Jax added.

"Oh, so much for the concern. Forget what I said", she smiled and sighed, "It was great to see you, though. I can never repay for everything you've done for me, major. From day one".

"There's no need for repayment. We helped each other out", Jax responded, "Well, I better get back in. They said this stop would not be very long, so I wish you both luck in whatever you're planning".

Major Briggs extended his right hand to Scott first and the ex-commando in the civilian uniform gripped it. He then repeated the action with Sonya.

"Lieutenant?", he remembered her former rank, as always.

"Major", she answered as she shook hands also, "It's been an honor".

"I could say the same thing".

"Make sure to stay in touch", Scott added from his side, "You _do_ have my email address".

"Well, I'll think about it", Jax went on, "But I ain't promising anything".

"No, really", Sonya offered, "The next time you have some vacation time, you know where we are".

"Wherever that vacation is, I'll just be glad if it's not in Israel. That's all I ask". Jax smiled for the first time before turning around and heading back towards the aircraft.

"You want me to take one of the bags?", Sonya offered after she and Scott were alone and heading towards the airport exit.

"I ain't gonna refuse", he responded.

"I'm so glad to see you walking like this!", she seemed excited as she took one of the gym bags and placed it over her right shoulder.

"Yeah, I started like this about a month ago. Haven't touched the cane since then".

"Things finally worked out, huh?".

"I'm hoping so...", he stopped talking briefly as they neared the exit and he stared at her, "Look, Sonya, we need to talk. Can we go somewhere lessss... Crowded?".

"Sure", she heard the statement she was waiting for, "The car is in the lot just outside that door. It's less than five minutes away"...

The multi-floored parking lot was relatively unoccupied, with only a handful of other people among at least two hundred cars. After placing both his gym bags in the trunk, Sonya opened the driver's side door and stood there without entering the car. She reasoned this was as good a time as any to bring up the subject that filled her mind. She told herself she could drive to another place if Scott wanted to first, but if he was content with talking here, so be it.

"Did you get a job yet?", Scott spoke first.

"Yeah. It's minimum wage, although the work area is pretty nice and all. I had to take the day off to come meet you here", she answered, "My boss understood... Thank Rayden".

Several seconds of silence followed.

"So", she amiably stared at him as he rested his elbows on the roof of the vehicle next to the closed passenger side door, "You wanna tell me now why you decided to come back?".

"Well", he grinned, "It's a long story".

"I got time", she grinned back.

"Well", he pushed his elbows off the roof and stood back up straight, "I had a lot of time to think about my... situation when I was in Hong Kong".

"Uhuh".

"After what happened in Israel, I got to thinking real hard about where my life was heading...", Scott continued, "I figured we had several choices, and one of them was to live life like a couple of stupid characters that you see in movies. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?".

"Uh, not really", she had to admit.

"The kind of characters...", Scott sighed, "The kind of people who know they care for each other but they let their stupid pride and their stupid morals keep them apart. And the _only_ time they see each other is when one needs the other one's help. It's little more than a business relationship. They're willing to risk their lives to help each other, but that's all. They're not allowed to talk, to spend time together. It sucks. That's what we were heading towards, you and me".

"I'm _glad_ you're back, Scott", she spoke up, "But I just don't want you to make a decision that you end up regretting. The military was your life, you loved it, you wanted to go back so bad".

"That's right, want_ed_, as in the past", Scott repeated, "I was doing really good in my physical therapy in Hong Kong. But think about it, Sonya. If you have a choice between working with a soldier who's fresh and one who's got two pieces of lead in his stomach and hip, which one would _you_ pick? I figured I might as well cut my losses and move on, the military would be much happier like that".

They locked eyes for a few seconds as he stopped talking.

"Besides", he continued, "I got something more important to go after".

The grin on Sonya's face widened at the same time as her eyes did.

"You mean...", she began pointing towards herself.

"What you said to me as I was leaving really stuck in my head", Scott interrupted as he made his way towards her around the car, "You said having me around was like having your brother back and it hit me when I was in Hong Kong. Sonya, when we were together before Goro came into the picture, that was like the best time I _ever_ had! Now, granted, I had two holes in me and I couldn't walk, but that's besides the point... The point is, I never had a sister, and that experience was great. And life is too damn short to waste by walking away from your friends because you're going after some career, real friends are really rare".

Sonya was speechless as he walked up to within two feet in front of her.

"Look, even if I get my old position in the Special Forces, it's not gonna be worth as much as before", Scott pressed his right hand palm-down on his chest, "I'd like for things to go back to how they were before. I can just get a job here and live in this city here. That is, if you still wanna go back to the way things were before".

"That so sweeeeeet! Oh my God!", she embraced him with more speed than he thought she possessed.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'", he answered, "Just don't get all emotional on me".

"OK, OK, I can do that", she slowly calmed herself as they pulled away, "But you can just stay with us until you find a place of your own, right?".

"Yeah, sure".

"Great! Get in the car".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back home, Sonya's father was seated on a couch watching the news when she led her former partner into the living room. Herman Blade stood up as he saw Scott and his daughter setting down the two bags they had brought along.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss you, son", he uttered with a forced smile.

Sonya could see the constraint in her father's facial expression and wasted no time pointing it out.

"Daddy? What's wrong?".

"Look, if it's me....", Scott wanted to point out his willingness to live somewhere else if it was a problem.

"No, no", Sonya's father halted him, "It's not you at all. It's a pleasure to see _you_ again... There was just another death".

"_What_??", Sonya blurted out, "Again?? That's the third one!".

"I know".

"What's going on here, if you don't mind me asking", Scott was naturally curious.

"There have been two deaths in the last five days", Sonya explained, looking disappointed and angry at the same time, "This was the third. All three victims were electrocuted as if somebody strapped them into some goddamn electric chair and fired it up. The only problem is that those people were killed at the exact spot where they were found, they weren't moved. Go figure".

The next scene both Scott and Sonya witnessed on the television screen was detective Olsen being interviewed by several reporters. Recognizing the familiar face, they habitually wanted to know more.

"Daddy, turn the volume up!", she kept staring at the screen.

As her father increased the loudness, they intently listened to what the young detective had to say.

"...saying now is that we're looking at all possibilities right now and we're not excluding anything", Olsen went on, "Obviously, we're tormented since this is exactly like the previous two. But we _can't_ jump to any conclusions right now and I want to ask the public to use the same kind of caution. Paranoia isn't gonna help anybody".

"Do you have _any_ kind of ideas as to the cause?", an eager reporter asked.

"We're still looking at all the possibilities", Olsen carefully avoided answering, "For all we know, he could've been hit by lighting".

"_Lightning_?", Sonya's father repeated incredulously, "There wasn't a cloud in the sky for the last God knows how many , that doesn't explain why we've had the numbers in casualties so far", Olsen kept on talking, "When we have more to say, you guys will be the first to know, I promise. For now, I must go back to work and I want to ask everyone not to panic over this".

Detective Olsen walked away from the death scene and proceeded towards his vehicle, knowing he couldn't answer any of the questions that were being thrown at him.

"Just more good news to cheer everybody up", Sonya stared at Scott with a face that was relatively grim when compared to how she felt in the airport parking lot, "But it doesn't have anything to do with you. I'm making all three of us lunch, we need to celebrate you coming back here. Besides, we need to do it today because I gotta be at work all day tomorrow".

"Actually, I already _had_ lunch on the plane".

"Well then, it's dinner", she countered, "Come on, help me with the food"...

Early the next morning, as she was dressed in blue jeans, sneakers and a short-sleeved plain blouse to walk to work, Scott was partly awake and still in his previous day's clothes.

"I should be back by about six", Sonya informed him, "Just make the best of things until then. _Try_ to enjoy life, isn't what you told me once?".

"Funny", he uneasily stood up, "I'm going job hunting. That is, assuming I wake up first".

"Take your time", she patted him on the back before she opened the door, "You've had a long flight yesterday. Give your body a chance to relax first".

As she was about to take her first step outside, she was stopped in her tracks by two men who walked up to her from outside. One of them was carrying a news camera while the other quickly introduced himself.

"I'm lieutenant Leisan from the police department", the man in his late thirties pulled out his badge, "Are you lieutenant Blade from the U.S. Army Special Forces?".

"_Former_ lieutenant", she pointed out as Scott forced himself to be more alert, "What is this about? I need to go to work".

"No you don't", Leisan responded as he put his badge back into his pocket, "We already contacted your employer and told him your assistance was needed. He was... more than glad to let you make up the lost time tomorrow".

"What is this about?!", she pressed on, getting agitated.

"Detective Olsen informed us about where we could find you, lieutenant", Leisan explained, "We need your help. It's about the recent wave of homicides in this city that were involved with electricity".

It took a few seconds for the information to sink into her mind.

"And who is he?", she pointed to the cameraman.

"He's just an employee of a studio that is producing a documentary about this case", the police lieutenant went on, "He's of no concern at the moment".

"Well, I'm glad you guys are having so much fun with this", she crossed her arms in front of her chest, "But what do you want from _me_?".

"We believe the culprit responsible comes from a military background, thus, he has experience. No one in our department has enough knowledge on military know-how to satisfactorily do this assignment for us".

"Thousands of cops and not a single one has enough military experience?", she wasn't being convinced.

"The point is, we need your help. Will you help us?".

She stared into the police lieutenant's eyes for several heartbeats as she considered the benefits and consequences.

"There _is_ something in it for you, miss Blade", Leisan pointed out.

"Really", she made it obvious she did not believe him.

"We found out why you were kicked out of the S.F. to begin with. We could help you get your old position back if you cooperate with us".

"And what makes you think I even _want_ my old position back? You think I miss serving under the politician who kicked me out?".

Leisan sighed heavily.

"Look, miss. I don't mind telling you we're desperate. You think I like asking a total stranger for help? But we're trying to save someone else from getting fried here. You wanna help us out or not?".

By that time, Scott had sharpened up his senses and positioned himself next to her in the doorway. As she let her arms fall back down by her sides, she stared at him and recognized the familiar sharp look in his eyes. She nonverbally asked him what he would do if their roles were reversed.

"It's your decision, boss", he simply let her know, "Whatever you decide on doing is fine with me".

"Fine. Wadda you want me to do?", she turned her attention back to Leisan.

"Just to help us search his estate", the lieutenant answered, "Maybe you'll recognize something we won't".

"Can he be there with me?", she pointed at Scott.

"Oh sure".

"Fine. Just give me a minute to change", Scott told her as he went back inside her home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The apparent estate of the suspect was a one-floor residence that looked like any ordinary home on the outside. The main difference was the large back yard that was part of the property. It was indirectly attached to the residence because the rear door leading to it was missing. Sonya and Scott combed the inside of the place as well as could be expected considering they had no police training whatsoever. The Special Forces taught them how to hunt and kill, not how to look for miniature pieces of evidence. Despite their effort, their lack of success was quickly apparent.

"I don't even know what you expect us to find here, lieutenant", Sonya addressed him, "What kind of results do you expect when we don't even know what this suspect looks like or how he lives?".

"Yeah", Scott finally put in a word of his own, "Why wouldn't you let us see his picture in the first place?".

"It would be better for everyone involved", Leisan explained as he looked over the inside of the living room as well, "We don't want any false impressions with anyone until we're ready to crack this case".

"I just don't understand what good we're doing you here", Sonya still didn't figure out their usefulness.

"Well, just keep trying, I'm sure something will come up soon", Leisan told them both as he stretched in front of the cameraman.

None of them noticed the housecat that quietly snuck into the living room from the void doorway that led to the backyard. The feline licked its front left paw as the four individuals in the room took no attention.

"Look, I'm gonna go over to my car and call headquarters to see if there's anything else they want done", Leisan explained next, "If we don't find anything within the next few minutes, I'll just call it off. I'm starting to see that detective Olsen probably made a mistake".

"I'm sorry", Sonya regretted for her ineffectiveness, "I didn't think there was anything I could do about it from the start. I'm _still_ confused about why we're here".

"Thanks for trying anyway", the lieutenant said as he walked out while staring at the reporter who was with him, "Were you satisfied here Mr. cameraman or do you wanna annoy the precinct some more?".

The cameraman said something under his breath as he followed Leisan outside while Sonya and Scott remained in.

"_That_ sure was something I didn't expect to do when I woke up this morning", Scott told her.

"You're telling me", she answered, "I was just looking forward to...".

She abruptly stopped because she unexpectedly noticed about half a dozen colorful butterflies floating around the ceiling.

"That's funny", she recalled as Scott saw them too, "Where did _they_ come from? They were nowhere to be seen a second ago".

They both watched as one of the butterflies fluttered down from the ceiling towards the floor. Both their gazes followed as it then headed for the housecat, which was now seated in the intersection of two walls. The butterfly landed on the cat and stayed still for about two seconds. As Sonya's attention turned back to Scott, she heard a deep shriek from the cat's direction. Surprised, they both faced towards the wall intersection to see the cat trembling as currents of electricity ran through its body. The trembling ceased within a few seconds and the feline dropped to the floor dead.

Feeling the surprise turn to fear, Sonya next watched another butterfly sinking from the ceiling towards Scott. Her former partner kept standing in place as the butterfly came closer. Panicked, she bolted towards him and covered the few feet that separated them within the blink of an eye.

"NOO!", she yelled out as she tackled him and pinned his back against the floor.

The butterfly ascended a few inches as she looked up at it. Then, she saw it descending back towards them. The adrenaline shot through her.

"GET UP! GET OUTTA HERE!", she pulled Scott back up to his feet before shoving him towards the main door.

Scott crashed through the doorway still feeling confused as she rapidly ran outside after him. Once she was breathing the clear morning air, she held on to Scott and quickly put as much distance between the grounds and the two of them.

"What the hell was that?!", her former partner asked no one in particular as he held his jaw because it had crashed into the door and still felt dazed from being tackled hard and pinned.

She stopped after dragging him about thirty feet away. She then stopped and turned around to look at the property as she tried to catch her breath.

"IT WAS LEISAN!!", she barked at him between breaths, "HE SET US UP!!".

"What??", Scott's mind was still not clear.

"He left just before those goddamn insects were released!", she calmed down slightly, "He used us!".

While Scott was still trying to clarify the events, she spotted Leisan's car parked several yards down the street. There was at least one occupant in it, so she gently let go of Scott and charged towards the vehicle with her eyes on fire.

"Yo, where you goi...", Scott began and stopped as he saw the car as well.

Sonya reached the auto within seconds and angrily yanked the driver's side door open. The key had already started the ignition as she recognized Leisan behind the wheel. As that one began to protest, she gripped his collar and pulled him out of the open doorway before throwing him face-down on the street. She didn't notice the cameraman who was seated in the front passenger's seat as Leisan's face slammed into the unforgiving ground several feet away.

"Please! Please!...", Leisan began as he crawled a few feet away from the car and turned on his back, trying to get back on his feet.

"SHUT UP!!", she snapped as she bent over and sent her right fist into his jaw, flattening his back against the street.

Before he had a chance to rise, she gripped his throat with her right hand and pressed her entire weight on her right arm, easily choking him. Leisan desperately tried to resist as his fingers clawed at her right forearm, but her grip only became stronger with every bruise he inflicted on her skin.

"You figured risking a cop's life in a test would make you look bad, so you decided on an expendable instead? Is that it?", she irately questioned by staring down at him, "Someone who already has a history and isn't very popular in front of the cameras to begin with? It was those goddamn butterflies! That's how people were being killed, wasn't it??".".

Leisan couldn't construct any intelligible words since he only managed to emanate a wheezing sound as his life crept out of him within every second. The entire scene was taking place as the cameraman was out of the car and busy recording everything on tape. The next feeling Sonya became aware of was a hand on her left shoulder. She briefly looked in that direction to see Scott squatting next to her as he too tried to catch his breath.

"Let him go", he said just loud enough to be heard as he withdrew his hand.

Sonya's grip didn't loosen as she turned her infuriated attention back towards her victim, whose vision was beginning to fade. Leisan's fingernails now dug deep into her throat and resulted in ugly red gashes as he was getting more desperate because her grip felt more like steel with every passing moment. Unfortunately for him, Sonya did not feel any kind of compassion. The only feeling that engulfed her was hatred as she clenched her teeth together hard enough to almost crack them. While Leisan had only an instant more to live, she heard Scott's next word clearly although he merely whispered it.

"Sis", he gently said as he put his hand back on her shoulder, "Let him go".

She instantly extended her right fingers apart and released Leisan's throat as that one coughed and held on to his own windpipe. He didn't have long to rest, though, because Sonya next stood up and gripped his collar one more time with both hands. She then unceremoniously pulled him up to his feet and brought her face to within inches of his, although he was still dazed and coughing.

"This isn't over, though guy", she savored every word, "I am going to make you sorry you ever heard my name! By the time it's over, you're gonna wish I _had_ finished you".

With that, she shoved him back towards the car. The push was so strong that Leisan almost flew the distance between her and the vehicle before the back of his thighs came into contact with the hood. With a scream, the side of the car unnaturally stopped his legs from moving. His torso snapped backwards and his head and back crashed into the top of the hood as his legs then were raised in a horizontal position and projected out of the front of the vehicle.

Sonya decided not to pursue him at that moment and turned in another direction. She saw the cameraman for the first time, but she didn't care at all as drops of blood from some of the deeper wounds in her neck lazily slid towards her collar.

"Come on, let's take a look at that neck", Scott placed his left arm around her shoulders as he walked her away.

In a moment of compassion that she would not have thought of at any other time, she wrapped her right arm around his lower back and rested her head on his shoulder...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This _couldn't_ have been what Olsen had in mind when he mentioned me", shetried not to flinch when Scott carefully applied alcohol on the bruises on her neck once they were back home.

"Yeah, that much I'm sure of", Scott agreed, "Olsen wouldn't stoop this low. But what the hell was Leisan thinking of?".

"I want to report him", she evenly added.

Scott stopped momentarily and stared at her with a poker face.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?", he asked with an innocent tone of voice.

"Why not?".

"Well, you're gonna be reporting a cop's wrongdoings _to_ another cop", he clarified.

"I didn't do anything wrong!", she protested.

"No. Just that that moron of a cameraman has you on tape while you almost killed a police lieutenant. Don't you think Leisan could use that against you if push came to shove?".

She did not answer for a few instants, since she was in deep thought.

"I can't let him get away with this!", she resumed with a fraction more resolve in her voice, "He almost killed the two of us. Besides, if I don't do anything about it, he might do the same thing to someone else somewhere down the road. Have you even _thought_ about that?".

"Hey, he would've been busted already if the police really didn't want his kind on the force", he countered.

"Look, Danny, I'm not...", she froze in midsentence with her eyes wide open.

She gave a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry", she whispered, holding her right hand palm-up towards him.

"Don't be", Scott smiled, "This is probably gonna take some getting used to".

At least he wasn't upset, she told herself.

"Come on", he said next as he put the alcohol bottle away, "Let's report him".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the police precinct, detective Olsen was genuinely surprised to see Scott again, since he had no word of his return. The next scene that greeted him was an extremely somber-faced Sonya. It didn't take him long to notice the red marks on her neck from Leisan's fingernails.

"What the hell are those??", Olsen turned to Scott in an accusing fashion.

"Don't look at him that way, detective", she interjected, "It's not him. If anything, it's one of your own that did this".

"What?", the detective became confused.

"Do me a favor, detective", she went on, "Next time you feel like giving my name, know who you're talking to. Not that I'm not flattered of how highly you think of me, I really am, but you gotta keep better company".

Olsen was quiet, eagerly waiting for her to finish her explanation.

"That idiot Leisan you gave my name to, remember him? He used both me and Scott as a pair of goddamn guinea pigs when he was experimenting with the causes for the three murders where the people were fried. He's one sick son of a bitch".

"Lieutenant Leisan did _what_? And what is this about the three electrocuting murders? Do you know something we don't? If you do, you _must_ tell us", Olsen pressed.

"Detective", Scott sighed, "I don't know if you know this, but the killings are carried out by butterflies. They look just like ordinary butterflies, but once they set on you, it's like you just sat in an electric chair. The only reason we know is that one of those things fried a cat instead of us. Leisan trapped us in some place without knowing the cat had snuck in, so we were really lucky".

"I'm not following you guys", Olsen rubbed his forehead, "If lieutenant Leisan knows about the cause of the murders, why wouldn't he tell us? We're getting desperate here, he knows it. What you guys are saying is ridiculous".

"It's the truth! Whether you wanna believe it or not!", Sonya objected.

"Listen, why would Leisan even experiment on people? He doesn't even _know_ you guys! How did you find him?", the detective pointed out.

"We didn't find him, he came to us!", she shot back.

"What??", was Olsen's only reaction.

"He told us you gave him my name!".

"No I didn't! There's something we're not seeing here", the detective picked up a phone and dialed, "Hello, is lieutenant Leisan there?... Good, tell him this is detective Olsen and I need to see him as soon as possible... Can he come down to the second floor now? It's an emergency... Good".

He hung up.

"Leisan was in. They said they would send him over right now", he told them next, his hands on both sides of his stomach, "We're gonna get some questions answered real soon".

Abouttwo minutes later, as they were still waiting, a bald man in his early sixties walked into the room.

"Detective? You said you had a problem?", he asked.

"Yes. Close the door please", Olsen said, "I want all three of you to stay here until this matter is resolved".

"Hi", the old man saw Sonya and Scott.

"Hi", Sonya answered before turning to Olsen, "So where's Leisan?".

Olsen's eyes narrowed.

"Guys, that _is_ lieutenant Leisan", he told them.

"What? No!", she disagreed, "That's not him. Leisan was just a few older than _you_!".

"Trust me, miss. It's me", the old man crossed his arms, "What exactly is going on here?".

"These two people were accosted by someone impersonating you, lieutenant", Olsen answered, "Whoever this guy was, he might've made an attempt at their lives. And I think they also know something about our serial case now... Wherever I go and I get confused, you guys are always there".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Sonya and Scott did was guide a team from the police department to the residence where they came into contact with the butterflies. Then, after spending hours answering what seemed like a thousand questions, they were allowed to go back home. Feeling more confused than ever, they wearily waited for Sonya's father to return home as the afternoon slowly changed to evening.

"I don't know what's going on", Scott told her as they both paced the living room floor, "I wish I did".

"I just wish it would stop", she extended her hands palm-up in front of her torso, frustrated, "Just stop! Why does something weird have to happen every so often in my life?? Just when I thought I was going to have some peace when I came back home from the tournament, Kline shows up. Then, when you're trying to piece your life together, Goro and Sub-zero show up. When that's over, Blud comes back for round two. And now, simply because I thought I was gonna have some relaxing times with daddy, you, Johnny and Liu, _this_ happens! What am I, a magnet for problems?".

"Well, we beat everything else", he reassured, "We can beat this too. We _will_ beat this too".

She sighed.

"I need a vacation", she then complained, "Somewhere far away from organized crime and sorcerers and militants and four-armed ghosts and electric butterflies".

"Huh, tell you what. After I get a job, maybe I could save a few paychecks and take you to Hawaii for a couple of weeks".

She finally smiled.

"As _sweet_ as that sounds, that's not what I had in mind", she responded, "See, my idea of a vacation is when I can wake up in the morning, go to a job I like, and come back home in the evening with a paycheck. That's it, just a day without something _weird_ happening. Though I'm _wondering_ how long it'll take me to get another job that I enjoy now that the army's finished".

As she was saying that, Sonya moved towards one of the walls and stared at her reflection in a hung mirror. While that took place, Scott crashed down on the nearest couch as the setting sun flooded the living room window to his left with a red streak. Although his eyes expected the red sea outside, a small bright star twinkled and caught his attention from outside the window. From curiosity alone, he twisted his head towards the left and glanced out the window. The next fact that registered in his mind was that the twinkle came from the scope of a hunting rifle -a rifle that someone was pointing through the window and into the living room.

Scott didn't know who the rifle was pointed at, but he couldn't duck for cover and leave his new sister's life in the hands of the outside gunman. Without having a chance to scream out a warning, he lunged towards her and reached her just as a round burst from outside. A bullet pierced the window and left a perfect quarter-sized hole in the glass as it sped towards the mirror that Sonya was using. Since Scott had been so swift to react, he pushed her down and to the right as the bullet tore its way into his own left upper arm.

Sonya realized what happened after Scott slammed back-first against the living room floor, holding his bloody left arm.

"Son of a bitch! I don't believe this!", he hissed from the pain.

Careful to keep her head down, she reached for the phone and began to dial.

"I can call for help", he gritted his teeth as he reached for the receiver, "GET HIM!".

"Put pressure on it", she advised as she handed the receiver to the man who had saved her life, yet again.

She quickly stood up, believing the assassin would have run as soon as the first round was fired. Although she understood that he was no longer aiming at her home from outside, she decided it would be a mistake to assume that he wasn't expecting her pursuit. If she bolted after him through the main door, he might be waiting for it. So, she charged straight for the window which currently seemed to contain a spider web.

Sonya jumped through the window and flew towards the outside of her home amidst the explosion of glass. With the grace of a cat, she landed on the pavement on her feet and in a squatting position. Her torso was pushed forward so she used her fingertips to keep from falling on her face. Coldly standing up and brushing pieces of glass off her skin and clothes, she spotted the assassin about thirty yards ahead as he dropped his rifle and dashed away from her. It didn't take her long to recognize him as the cameraman who had accompanied them and lieutenant Leisan's impostor.

The hit man bolted away as fast as his legs could take him as she chased after him, calmly and evenly zeroing in on the middle of his back. She was gaining on him as he reached a public park about three blocks away that was surrounded by an old metal fence. Finding a hole that might have been large enough for him to enter, he took his chances and went through it. Sonya followed him through the hole several seconds later and ended up cutting her left cheek in the process because of a thin sharp metal obtrusion. Ignoring the minor pain, she entered the park and, still touching the fence from the inside, scanned the area in order to search for her prey. To her disappointment, the assassin was nowhere in sight.

She slowly began to walk towards her left in the same direction as the fence itself, keeping her vigilant eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. She passed several trees, bushes and kids on her right, but the hit man would not show himself. Then, while examining a tree that was just to her right, about four feet from the fence, an arm holding a hunting knife shot out of a small hole in the fence itself. Being caught offguard between the tree and the fence, the knife cut a second scar on her left cheek that was much deeper than the first one. She didn't see the knife or anything unusual. The only thing she heard was herself screaming in pain and confusion.

Sonya instinctively pushed herself as far to the right as possible. She crashed face-first into the tree and turned around to face her attacker. The cameraman's arm was still through the tear in the fence, but because the hole was only big enough for an arm, he couldn't advance towards her himself. His adrenaline kept him from withdrawing his arm once she was just inches out of his knife's range, and she took advantage of his mistake. With blood racing down her left cheek, she gripped his wrist with both her hands, looking to pay him back. Having him at her mercy, she released her right hand from his wrist and used it to grasp his knife.

Before the hit man could protest, she held his knife in her right hand and his arm in her left. With a swift thrust, she inserted the entire six-inch long blade into his forearm and pierced it, sending a stream of blood flowing out of it. The assassin screamed and desperately tried to pull his impaled arm back, but she turned out to be the stronger of the two because her hold on his wrist remained. While he screamed and violently shook like a fish out of water, she pulled the knife out of his forearm, dropped it on the ground and held his hand with her own. With a second merciless drive, she pushed his hand as far down as possible and they both knew the hit man's wrist was broken as the back of his hand touched his forearm.

She finally let go of his wrist and he quickly pulled his arm back, holding it and bending over in a yell. A few seconds later, he looked up across the fence to see where she was, but she was gone. Worried and nervous, he twisted around to hopefully spot her coming his way. It was too late because she was already standing several feet behind him with her arms crossed in front of her chest. As his throbbing eyes met hers, he suddenly became very scared. Her eyes were not occupied with pain or anger, as he might've expected, but with a look that was frighteningly calm. The second scene he noticed was the blood that completely covered the lower half of her left face as well as her neck. He forgot the pain in his arm as he saw her uncrossing her arms, indirectly telling him she wasn't finished with her revenge.

Before her first blow came though, the assassin finally saw something that put a smile on his face. His partner, Leisan's impostor, stood several steps behind her holding a lead pipe. Sonya knew she was outnumbered the instant she saw his facial expression change. She quickly took a large step backwards and turned around in a ninety degree angle, not completely facing either person. She held her hands out at arm's length, one palm facing each opponent, as she twisted her head back and forth, anticipating who would attack first.

"You shouldn't have come here alone, lieutenant", Leisan's charlatan said.

"I didn't", she lied, hoping to distract them with a conversation so she could attack first, "My brother's here too".

"Come on! You really think we're that stupid?", the impostor looked insulted, "We did a background check on you. Your brother's been six feet under for years.".

"Really?", a newvoice caught all three of them off-guard.

Sonya looked forward and each man turned to see Scott approaching them with a bloody and hastily-prepared bandage and tourniquet wrapped around his left upper arm.

"You again?!", the impostor exclaimed, "Who are you?".

"I'm her brother, stupid", Scott stopped and stood in a fighting stance several feet away, "I know what you're thinking, 'he sure looks great for a dead guy', right?".

"I got the healthy one!", Sonya yelled before charging towards Leisan's impostor.

As she reached him, that one swung the lead pipe, missing her head by mere inches because she hastily ducked. Before he hand a chance to pull his swinging arm back to its normal position, Sonya held it with her left hand and yanked the pipe out of his hand with her right. The next thing her opponent saw and felt was a roundhouse kick to his jaw, which sent him staggering several steps back. She walked up to him and, as he made the mistake of standing at his full height, sent the inch-thick pipe hard into his stomach. While he bent over, gasping for air, she calmly raised the lead pipe over her shoulders before slamming it into the back of his head like a hammer on a nail. Her opponent fell flat on his stomach, seeing stars but still conscious.

Scott, in the meanwhile, saw the injured cameraman rushing towards him. He twisted to his right and sent the bottom of his left foot straight into that one's knee, easily breaking it. As his opponent dropped on the ground, not knowing whether to hold his wrist or his knee, Scott eagerly kicked him just above the ear. The cameraman didn't move after that. The next thing Scott saw was Sonya picking up Leisan's impostor and facing his direction.

"Your way!", she warned before hurling him towards her former partner.

The charlatan staggered several steps until he reached Scott, where he was instantly put on the receiving on of a massive uppercut. He then dropped on his back and didn't get up.

Liking what she saw, Sonya walked towards Scott feeling grateful for his assistance. She wore the most beautiful smile on her face that he had ever seen as she reached him and held her hand up for a potential high-five. Unfortunately, Scott felt the pain in his stomach from the old bullet wound getting suddenly stronger and he almost collapsed with a gasp.

"What? What happened?", she asked as she rushed over to hold him up, getting stained from his bloody left arm.

"Aaaahgh! It's nothing", he clenched his teeth, "_This_ is why the doctor said 'no more fighting'. I gotta start listening to his advice".

"Do you want me to take you home?", she offered, "I'm assuming you already called an ambulance".

"Don't bother. I called the cops too. Told them there was shooting around this area. They'll find us... I think", he refused, "Besides, if you wanna find out why this prick's doing this, you might wanna ask him now _before_ Olsen and company come by to help".

"Only if you're sure".

"I'm sure", he assured, so she helped him to the ground.

After seeing that her former partner was seated on the grass, Sonya reached the supposedly unconscious charlatan and gripped the back of his collar. With a clean yank, she pulled him up to his knees. He was still awake, although barely.

"Start talking, dirtbag!", she warned.

"Why should I?", he whispered back.

"Because if you don't, you won't live long enough to be arrested", she countered, although she knew she would not kill him, especially not with a handful of witnesses around.

Before the impostor could say anything else, the cameraman shakily pulled himself up on his hands and knees before withdrawing a second hunting knife with his good hand. He couldn't let his accomplice rat on the organization, he thought, and he knew he would never talk himself. So, before Sonya saw him and Scott could warn her, he threw the knife as the handful of witnesses around them screamed. The blade lodged itself in the upper left side of the impostor's back, around where the heart would be. That one collapsed into Sonya's arms without a sound as she realized what happened. Letting him fall on his stomach, she rushed over to the cameraman as that one stood on his knees and swung back. Before he could brace himself, her right knuckles crashed into his jaw and knocked him out for good this time.

She next walked back to Leisan's impostor as he was lying motionless in his own blood with the handle of the knife sticking out of his back. Picking him up by his shoulders, she turned him around so she supported the back of his head with her left hand as she looked down into his face. This way, he lay in her arms and she was the only thing he saw as he wearily looked up.

"You're dying", she frankly told him, "You don't have long. I didn't want to do it this way, but we're both stuck. How do you want this done?".

"Get me a priest, please!", he gasped because it hurt more when he talked.

"Don't have time", she bluntly answered, "If you wanna confess, it's gonna have to be to me".

"Fine", he made his peace.

"Who are you?", was her first question.

"Assassins. Me and him both", he tried to point at the unconscious cameraman, "Black Dragon assassins".

The mere name sent chills up her spine.

"We were told to take you out after you...ki... killed Kano and Benson", he went on, "Crane took over afterwards, he was our chief hit... hit man. He was obsss... obsessed with you after he found that you ccc... came back from the tour... nament while Kano didnnnn't".

"Then why the butterflies??", she demanded, "If you wanted me, then you could've taken a shot at _me_! Why set those butterflies loose on the city?".

"The butterflies had nothing to do with you, llllieu... lieutenant", he told her, "They were just an experiment in sadism. Crane figured as long as... we're gonna experiment, we might as well... do it in _your_ city.... The butterflies die after a few hours, so he figured maybe... he could try to test them and get you...at...at the same time. Like icing on the cake... But all those butter...flies are dead now... Those were the last ones that... you saw... They were the last and they... died soon after... Crane ffff... figured it wasn't enough to hold the cccity hostage like that... He...wwwants to... wants something bbbetter...".

He laughed weakly.

"What's so funny?", she asked, curious.

"My partner is nnnobody... Heee was... taping you choking me so if you killlled me, he'dd get you fffor mmurder...", he smiled, "Haaa... When we said... that we told your employer where you... wwwere this morning... We lied... I think you... you lost your job... Sorry".

"That's the last thing on my mind now", she countered.

"It should be", he stopped smiling, "Kano called Crane be...before he went with you... on the boat to the...iiii... island... Crane is on his way to that iiii... island. He wants to... to... find Kano's body becccause he knows Shang Tssssungg was magical... Crannne wants to try to revive Kan....no. The island is hidden, bbbut Kano... gave Crane... cooooo.... coordinates. Crane knows wheeeere to llllook. You may get to killll Kano yyyyet again".

Sonya knew he wasn't joking from the look in his eyes. The assassin was being completely honest as he began to laugh again.

"Llllook, I didn't wannnnna do it", he continued, "I mmmmean, I don't wanna k...k... kill someone as pretty as yoouu. Bbbut, Cccrane. He was obsessed. He llloved Kano like a brother. Hhhhe had to ggget you at any cost. Why couldn't you jjjust leave Kannno alllone? We wwwould've _all_ been better off".

"Kano murdered my partner back in Hong Kong", she calmly told him, remembering lieutenant Richards, "He was younger than you, even a bit younger than me. He died just like you. The only difference being that he died _alone_. Nobody had a chance to hold him when he died".

"I understand", the assassin whispered as sirens were heard approaching.

"Where's this Crane guy now?", she hurriedly asked.

"He went to Attt... Atlantic... City yesterday. He has a boat... Yyyyou should follllow him... But be careful, he's got mmmuscle... Three of them. Maybe bbbetter than you".

"I'll be careful", she said as he slowly closed his eyes.

"Good llluck", he managed to add before he died.

"I'll see you", she lowered him to the ground as he stopped moving.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'll probably be outta here by tomorrow", Scott reassured her as she stood next to his hospital bed, "Stop worrying about me".

"I can't help it, bro", Sonya answered, still not having gotten used to the large bandage on her left cheek, "You know what they say. Easy come, easy go. I don't anything to go wrong".

"Trust me, sis. This did _not_ come easy, so it ain't going easy. Trust me", he added as Johnny and Liu walked into the room.

"Hey, guys. Did _you_ guys miss the show", she greeted them.

"Are you two allright?", was Johnny's first question as he took his sunglasses off, noticing that Sonya's clothes were soaked with the blood from the dead assassin.

"Just great", she found herself reassuring them in turn, "But we might have a problem. Or at least _I_ might".

"Don't even talk like that", the actor asserted, "Your problem is our problem. You know that".

"Of course", Liu agreed, "What is the problem? We came by your home after Johnny showed me around that theme park and your father told us you were both in the hospital".

"Yeah, both", Johnny repeated, pointing at Scott, "Since when were _you_ back?".

"Since yesterday", he answered.

"You should've told us", the actor next stared at Sonya.

"I was still wondering how I would put it", she tried to smile, "I _still_ am, but I guess there's no need now".

"So, the dilemma is?".

"Some idiot from the Black Dragons ordered a hit on me", she began her short explanation, "That's over for now, assassins are out of the way. But we were told he was going back to, are you ready for this, Shang Tsung's island. He hopes to find Kano's body there in order to try to bring him back to life".

"What??", was the actor's reaction.

"He can't do it...", Sonya stopped, needing a confident response, "Can he?".

"We knew Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn were capable of such magic", Liu went on, "But could a mortal accomplish that feat?".

"I don't know", Johnny was disappointed at his lack of knowledge.

"And even if one could", the White Lotus monk continued, "What could we do about it? We do not know where Shang's island is located. We had to be _taken_ there for the tournament. We did not know it's location".

"Good point", she told him, "But I also know that Kano knew the coordinates to the island and told this nut just before he left. The only question is, how do _we_ get there?".

Both kombatants were speechless.

"I really wanna get this guy, too", she continued, "He was the one who's responsible for the three electrifying murders this week. He somehow gave some butterflies the ability to fry anything they touch".

"Are you serious?", Johnny asked.

"Yeah", she answered, "Blud _did_ say that some of those lifers were smart. Now I know why".

"Astounding", was the only thing Liu could think of saying at the moment.

"Anyway, let's think about it at home", she added, pointing at Scott with a grin, "_This_ guy doesn't want us baby-sitting him because it hurts his pride".

"Or at least what's left of it", Scott grinned back.

"You're sure?", Johnny asked him, "You haven't lived until you've heard me reading a bedtime story".

"Get lost! All of you! Go, go!", Scott waved them back, "I need my sleep".

"I'll come back tomorrow, OK?", she gripped his hand before walking out.

"I'll be here", was his response.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I just wish I had some idea!", Sonya wished out loud as they drove up to her home in Johnny's convertible, "I could make sure Kano stays like ash and also get rid of this Crane clown. It'd be like killing two birds with one stone".

"I don't suppose there's anybody we can go to ask about this", Johnny joined as he was seated behind the wheel.

"It was nighttime when we sailed", Liu pointed out, "We were seeing our opponents for the first time as well as Lord Rayden. Nobody brought a compass along to see the direction we were headed. Honestly, it was because nobody was hoping they would have to go back to that island once the tournament was over".

Johnny parked the car and all three exited, walking up to her front door.

"There has to be something we can do", the actor told them, "We can't just sit here and...".

His words were interrupted by a bright flash of lightning and thunder that simultaneously exploded in the sky. Then, slowly, a snow-white twinkle appeared in between the three of them and the door to her home. The twinkle lazily spread until it developed into the silhouette of a human being. Several moments passed before the silhouette became more dense and acquired human features. All three kombatants watched without uttering a word as Rayden soon appeared in front of them, wearing a white robe as well as a straw hat.

"Lord Rayden!", Liu placed his palms together in front of his upper chest and touched the edge of his fingertips with his lips.

"Hey! Good to see you again", Johnny smiled, copying Liu's bow in a more carefree manner.

"Wait a sec", Sonya gladly stared at him without moving, "You're here for us, aren't you? You're gonna help us, just like at the tournament".

"It is good you haven't lost your vigilant mind", Rayden told her with a smile in his usual voice.

"Do you know what's going on?", she almost cried out.

"Yes", the thunder god bowed his head slightly, "It is an imbalance in the realms. The island of the Mortal Kombat tournament should only be used once a generation by warriors from Earth and Outworld. By using it for his own personal reasons, Crane could unleash dangers that cannot be anticipated on the short run. He has to be stopped. I only assumed you three would wish to become involved since you proved to be reliable in the past".

"Tell me you can get us there", Johnny told him, "Nobody takes a shot at one of us and gets away with it".

"I can. But, as in the original tournament, I cannot help you once you are on the island. I can only bring you back when you desire to return", Rayden said somberly, "Whatever happens on the island itself is only dependent on you three, unless of course, there are others you would want to accompany you".

"No, we're it", Sonya replied, "But there are two questions. One, can you wait until we're better prepared and two, that hit man said Crane had three bodyguards who were good. Can you tell us about them?".

"I can wait as long as you request", Rayden gave a slight smile, "Only you three can see me currently in my state. I am invisible to everyone else. As for the three 'bodyguards', they are a force to be reckoned with, maybe even a match for you three".

"What? That can't be!", Johnny protested, "At the start of the tournament, you said we three were the _best_. Those yahoos weren't there!".

"That is true", the god agreed, "But the tournament demanded the best warriors from the Earth realm who would voluntarily defend it. The souls of the three who are presently on their way to the island were too corrupt to be used as a weapon for your realm. There was a considerable risk that they might even have struck a deal with Shang Tsung to betray your realm, if given the chance".

"You mean, we're _not_ the best?", the actor demanded, "So much for my ego".

"I am sorry if you had misunderstood", Rayden apologized, "You are the best among the Earth realm dwellers who are willing to _save_ the realm. It is possible that there are others who are just as good, and maybe better, who do not share your selfless determination".

"Pricks, in other words", Sonya added.

"You may describe them in whatever way you wish", Rayden smiled again, bowing.

"You don't have to go, Sonya", Johnny informed, suddenly feeling worried, "This guy won't be able to revive Kano, that's ridiculous".

"Probably", she told him, "But what if he actually does?".

She involuntarily shivered at the thought and all three men saw it, despite her attempt to hide the reaction.

"Besides, he's responsible for the three murders", she added, "If I let him get away with it, I'd never be able to forgive myself".

"And we can't... unleash the dangers that come by unbalancing the realms", Liu indirectly pointed at Rayden, repeating the god's warning.

"Can we go soon, guys?", Sonya looked at Johnny and Liu, "You know, to catch up to Crane and his idiots. He _does_ have a headstart on us".

"I can have you on the island in a moment", Rayden seemed proud.

"I'm ready", Liu said first.

"I need a few minutes", she told them, "I need to pack some heat and also to tell my father I'll be absent. He can tell Scott tomorrow, assuming we're not back yet".

"That's fine", Johnny joined her, "I'd rather get outta these clothes and wear something more comfortable if we're on our way to that dump again anyway. I could be back from my hotel in fifteen".

"Rendezvous here? In thirty minutes?", she asked both.

"Sounds good", both kombatants agreed.

"See you then", Rayden declared.

His body dispersed into numerous bolts of electricity before vanishing.

XXXXXXXXXX

After Johnny had driven back to his hotel to change clothes with Liu in the passenger seat, Sonya found herself in her room staring at a pitch-black tank top and pants. She swore to herself that there would be never be a reason to put her commando outfit on again after she returned from Israel. But her conscience and instincts persuaded her from getting rid of the outfit, and she was presently glad she returned to the motel room to retrieve it after Blud was dead. Slipping into the tank top, pants and boots seemed to take only a matter of seconds. Her next priority was to tie her blonde hair into a tail at the back of her head, as she always had done when the outfit was on.

Before reaching under her pillow for her trusty 9mm Glock, she was standing in front of the bathroom mirror inspecting her face. She had decided to remove the bandage because it felt too uncomfortable and also because she knew she had to get used to seeing the cut from now on. Holding the edge of the adhesive that glued the bandage to her cheek with her thumb and index fingers, she gently pulled it off. Once the bandage was in her right hand, she simply stared into the mirror as she held her face five inches away from it. The almost unsightly red scar stood out on a face that was otherwise smooth. She knew it would heal after some time, but also that the mark wouldn't completely disappear. She understood that a mild knife cut wasn't the worst experience in the world, but that did not mean she had to like it.

Sonya was careful. Remembering the doctor's advice to keep the wound clean, she washed her face with soap and water to also get rid of the viscous residue left on spots where the adhesive used to be. After drying off with a towel, she found a pen and paper and began writing, feeling somewhat glad her father wasn't around to see her as she was about to leave.

"Dear daddy", she read along as she wrote, "I'll be with Johnny and Liu because something came up. I may not be back tonight, but if not, I'll try to be in by tomorrow. Please remember to drop by Scott's room to tell him if I'm not back by tomorrow morning. Don't worry. I'll be fine".

She signed her name at the lower right corner of the paper and placed it on her father's bed. The only thing left for her to do afterwards was to grab the 9mm semiautomatic and to check to make sure it carried a full clip. She positioned the Glock in a black hip holster before searching her room for two more items. The first was a four-inch long switchblade knife, which she secured next to her right ankle. Then, after finding a second clip and placing it on the special belt of the commando outfit, she summarily stepped out of her home without looking back.

Once standing outside her door, she saw Johnny and Liu were not back yet. She wasn't alone for long, though, because a spark of electricity appeared six feet in front of her before it quickly expended to take on Rayden's shape.

"What?", Sonya gave a slight smile, "You're here to keep me company?".

"Would you rather be alone?", Rayden copied her grin.

"No".

"Besides, despite all the marvelous and eye-catching advances, society is still almost as dangerous at this moment as it was thousands of years ago", the thunder god told her, "It is not a good idea to be alone".

"Huh, I guess you would know, of all people".

"Yes", the deity bowed his head in agreement, "I've seen... many... people in my time. Both brave ones and depraved ones. But I never lost count, nor did I ever forget a face. At least so far, the depraved ones have never been able to outnumber the brave ones".

Just then, Sonya heard a car engine from her left. She turned her head to see Johnny driving up, wearing his sunglasses as always. He got out of the vehicle almost before it had stopped and Liu followed close behind him. As the two kombatants approached, Rayden asked the obvious question.

"Are you ready?".

"Definitely", Johnny answered for all three as he saw the cut on her cheek for the first time, "Who the hell did _that_?".

"He's in custody for murder", Sonya let him know.

"Let's do this", the actor told Rayden, seeing she did not want to talk about it now.

Rayden placed his palms together as bolts of electricity smoothly flowed out of his eyes. The pure white electricity surrounded all four of them and soon became a perfect half sphere, containing them and blocking out the sky along with everything else. The ground they were standing on suddenly changed from concrete to electricity also, although none of the kombatants' feet felt different. After a few more instants, Rayden separated his hands and the half sphere that contained them vanished. The first sound their ears heard was that of waves crashing gently into the sand. Sonya, Johnny and Liu then looked around as they found themselves standing on the beach of Shang Tsung's deserted island, as expected.

The kombatants were on the very same spot on the sandy shore where they had originally disembarked after being brought to the island for the original tournament. In their minds, they could almost still see the small dragon-shaped ships that had transported them from Shang Tsung's boat to the seashore.

"Are they here?", Sonya inquired Rayden, meaning Crane and his men.

"Not yet", the deity frankly responded, staring out to sea, "I will keep you informed".

He vanished like he had before and left the kombatants alone, wondering what they should next.

"You guys feel like revisiting some of our old hangouts?", Johnny spoke first without trying to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

None of them ever cared for the island since it brought them nothing but memories of a brutal conflict with lunatics, but they decided to follow Johnny's announcement. After walking along the trail they had been led towards in the original tournament, each person lost in his or her own thoughts, they reached a long flights of stairs. Johnny found himself giving thanks that he wasn't being burdened by almost a dozen suitcases as he had been when he first met Sonya and Liu. The recollection of him trying to climb the stairs and losing his hold on the luggage placed an unexpected grin on his face. Maybe the island wasn't so bad, he thought to himself, perhaps it was only their interpretation of it that made it look so gloomy.

They slowly climbed the stairs with Liu in the lead, still feeling anxious. That was because they had been taught to be on the lookout for enemies during the tournament and they were currently completely alone, almost lonely. The nostalgic feeling almost overtook the White Lotus monk as he entered the dangerous, yet beautiful, room where he had seen Princess Kitana for the first time. Liu smiled broadly at the memories.

"Wow!", he exclaimed, twisting his head back and forth to glance over the entire place, "I never thought it would actually be nice to see this place again".

"You know, guys", Sonya grinned and decided to be the first to admit it because she was submerged by sentimental feelings too, "I actually feel sort of nostalgic about this place. When we were here originally, we never really got a chance to see this place for all it was worth. We were too worried about how we'd get out of here alive. But now, as long as we're here alone, maybe we should make the best of it. Maybe we should explore, just for the hell of it".

"I'm with you, man", Johnny agreed, "We could really have some fun if we wanted to. And Rayden told us he'd be on the lookout. So, until those clowns get here, maybe we _should_ make the best of it".

"Fine with me", Liu told them, already knowing where he wanted to go, "We could separate, each of us taking one spot to... explore".

"Great, I'll go left", she said.

Even before she had finished her short statement, Liu was busy proceeding straight ahead with a pace so quick that Johnny and Sonya knew it had to be uncomfortable.

"I wonder where _he's_ so anxious to go to", Johnny told her as they watched him leave.

Almost as excited, Sonya walked into a straight path,into unfamiliar locations while Johnny wandered towards the right. Unknown to them, Liu was headed towards the series of natural bridges that were about four feet wide and hung over what seemed like bottomless space. The bridges had fascinated him ever since they had used one to travel through just prior to reaching Goro's room and seeing the Prince of Shokan for the first time. Upon reaching the beginning of one of the bridges, he stared up and down in awe as he kept walking, hearing several bats fluttering overhead. The first feeling he experienced was thechilly air which he anxiously inhaled as much as his lungs allowed. About twenty yards ahead of the base of the bridge, he squatted and held on to the flat bridge as he stared down over the edge.

Despite staying immobile in such a way for almost a minute in order to give his eyes a chance to adapt to the darkness, he still was not able to see the ground down below. Impressed, the White Lotus monk stood back up and stretched. Then, standing in the middle of the narrow bridge and staring straight ahead into the darkness, Liu assumed his fighting stance. With his eyes still on the darkness, he smoothly executed a perfect roundhouse kick into the air. Without stopping, he quickly followed it with a leg sweep and then a high front kick.

Once back on his feet without a fighting stance, Liu examined the other bridges that neighbored the one he was on. A second bridge ran about a dozen feet under his own from the right direction. It intercepted his bridge about thirty feet ahead from his position, so from his spot, Liu could see that the second bridge was approximately fifteen feet to his right. Confident, he turned to his right and stood on the very edge of his bridge as he inhaled. Squatting his legs slightly, he then exhaled and jumped over the edge. He rolled 360 degrees in midair and, as expected, landed feet-first on the second bridge which was a dozen feet below and fifteen feet to the right.

This second bridge led to a completely different destination because, looking back, Liu could see that it did not originate from the same base as the first one did. All the bridges apparently led to a different place. Eager to follow the second one to wherever it would take him, the monk quickly proceeded towards the dark unknown. Just then, he was disappointed when he heard Johnny's voice calling out from what felt like miles away.

"YO GUYS! COME HERE!", the actor yelled in an amazed tone, "LIU, SONYA, COME HERE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS!".

Liu considered not responding, or at least yelling out that he wasn't interested, since the second bridge had a tight grip on his curiosity. He desperately wanted to see where it led, especially since the first one led to Goro's residence on the island. He craved to know if all the bridges led to such an exotic and dangerous end as well.

Finally, he decided his friend's desire to see him was more important than his curiosity. Besides, he justified to himself, he could always tell them about the bridges and come back, maybe even bring them along. So Liu ran back for about thirty feet on the second bridge until he was standing directly underneath the first one. Looking up at the original bridge he was on, which was a dozen feet over his present on, he jumped up with his hands extended vertically. His fingers just managed to dig into the edge of the first bridge above and he then curled his arms before swinging his legs over the edge. He crawled back on the original bridge, stood up and ran back towards the direction from which he had come.

Liu ran past the room where he had first encountered Kitana and followed the direction of Johnny's voice into a second, barely noticeable room. The room, as it turned out, was simply a small hallway towards a much bigger open area. He quickly stopped running because he found himself just a few feet behind Sonya and Johnny. All three stood at the beginning of a rectangular area that was open to the sky. It was about eighty feet long and forty feet wide and made entirely of marble. One side of the length was occupied by seven statues. First in line was a marble statue of Scorpion or Sub-zero, since both fighters looked alike except for the color of their uniform and all the statues were marble-white. Next to it was a statue of Johnny and then Kano. Next to Kano stood Goro and next to the Shokan prince stood Liu, then Rayden and finally Sonya. All the statues were in a fighting stance, except for Rayden, who had his hands together as if in prayer. They were also approximately ten feet tall each, except for Goro's which was about fifteen feet high instead. Eight marble columns held up a nonexistent ceilingas Liu covered his eyes, not having expected a bright marble room after he emerged from the dark cavern.

"Here's something we definitely didn't see when we were first here", Johnny told them both.

"Is this a warrior shrine? For us?", Sonya thought out loud, "I wonder why Shang Tsung didn't let us know it existed".

"He did not want us to know we were respected", Liu explained the truth as he saw it, even while he was amazed at the sight, "Look, our statues are considered equal to Scorpion and Sub-zero. It would not be wise to inform people of their strength when one is trying to beat them".

"I know Rayden said Outworld won nine Kombat tournaments before us", the actor gave his thoughts as well while he admired the statues, "I'm wondering, did they have a shrine for _every_ generation of fighters for the last five centuries? And who in the world carved these things? They're a great replication".

All three ended up looking at Goro's statue, whichwas larger than any creature they had seen before. They heard nothing except the comfortably cool wind as it steadily blew against them, almost as if urging them to start another fight against whoever the could find.

"As much as I hate seeing that four-armed statue, it's a beautiful place", Sonya added to no one in particular, "It'd be the perfect relaxation place to go if you wanted to clear your mind".

Just as she finished talking, Rayden appeared several feet behind them with no warning, reminding them all that they were here for a mission and not a sight-seeing tour.

"I thought you might want to know", the deity informed, pointing outside of the shrine, "Your adversaries have just arrived".

All three kombatants followed his direction, not stopping to ask why he did not follow them. Rayden vanished as they exited the shrine and quietly made their way down a natural cave before ending up on the hillside where Johnny had fought with Goro. There, standing behind natural rock obstructions to avoid being spotted, they glanced down. About two hundred feet below their level, a white yacht was anchored to the island as wild waves shook the vessel. Four men were exiting, carrying supplies. One of them dressed almost formally considering where he was, Sonya realized had to be Crane, and the three others who were clothed in ninja outfits. At least they now knew who they were up against, she thought to herself as she watched the four men slowly crept inland.

For some unknown reason, all four men suddenly stopped moving and rested their supplies on the ground, simply standing their ground. As the kombatants kept looking, one of the ninjas walked ahead with his portion of the supplies and soon disappeared into the island down below. After he was gone, the three remaining men put on what looked like regular schoolbags through their arms and on their backs.

"What the hell's going on?", Sonya whispered despite the great distance between them and the people they were spying on, "Why did they stop?".

"I wish I knew", Johnny whispered.

None of them noticed the ninja who appeared from the inside of the natural cave behind them as they were still busy staring at their immobile opponents. Liu was the first to sense a difference in the air around them, but even he was too late to react because the ninja moved with lightning speed. As the White Lotus monk raised his head, feeling suspicious, the ninja leapt forward and delivered a powerful punch into the back of Sonya's head. She saw stars a split second before falling forward unconscious. It was sheer luck that she was standing far enough from the edge that she did not fall over but instead fell on the ground on her stomach. Liu and Johnny quickly turned around, each in his own fighting stance, to confront opponent whose eyes were the only things visible.

"He _saw_ us!", Johnny exclaimed, surprised, "Man! That's one hell of an eyesight he's got!".

As they both rushed against the ninja, Crane and the other two ninjas activated their portable rocket propellers and shot up towards them. They reached their cliff side within seconds and both ninjas instantly slipped out of their propellers as soon as they were about fifteen feet over the kombatants' heads. They dropped towards the kombatants as they rocket propellers flew up without stopping. Crane slowed the speed of his propeller and proceeded to set down more gently as ninjas # 2 and 3 landed on their feet on either side of Johnny and Liu despite the long jump. All three ninjas' outfit were alike, pitch black from head to toe with only the eyes visible to an opponent.

Ninja #2 rushed at Johnny first and the actor twisted to his left and sent his right foot into that one's stomach. Despite the precise hit, the ninja was only pushed back about two feet without any sign that he was in pain. The pitch-black ninja then delivered a swift and high front kick without a sound. The bottom of his foot slammed under Johnny's chin and sent the kombatant flying backwards before he landed hard on his back. Looking up, Johnny saw that he had landed just a short distance away from ninja #3, so he took advantage of his position as leg sweeped that one. Johnny's sweep sent him falling on his side, although they then got up at exactly the same time, ready for another attack.

Liu saw ninja #1 dashing towards him and he executed a perfect roundhouse kick to greet his opponent. The back of his foot impacted into that one's jaw, sending him staggering several steps back into the natural cave. But Liu next felt a sharp hit into the back of his head, one that was delivered by ninja #2. He swayed a few feet forward, in pain and a level of shock, as he spun around to face ninjas #1 and 2 coming against him. The first ninja reached him and swung with an arm which had plenty of momentum behind it. Liu ducked as his opponent's fist flew overhead. The ninja's adrenaline level was too high for him to stop and he was involuntarily pushed forward. Seeing it, Liu stood back up and grabbed his uniform at the same time. Putting his muscles to the test, the monk lifted the ninja on his shoulders before simply tossing him several feet away. The ninja still didn't emanate any sounds as he contacted against the hard ground as Liu tried to turn around to see the second opponent he knew was there. As soon as he faced the second ninja though, that one hit him with a strong hook punch, twisting Liu backwards. The first ninja was already on his feet by then and delivered a kick to Liu's stomach, knocking the wind out of him as he bent over, gasping for breath. The next thing he felt was a second hit into the back of his head. He fell down on the ground, still conscious but defeated, for now.

Johnny, in the meanwhile, punched ninja #3 in the jaw. Almost like a reflex action, the ninja punched him in the jaw right back. Not discouraged, the kombatant sent a fist into his adversary's stomach. Unfortunately, before he knew what happened next, he was hit from behind and saw nothing but black...

The first thing Sonya saw when she regained consciousness was Johnny and Liu sitting with their hands tied behind their back with rope. They were several feet away from the side of the cliff, where she was lying. The second thing she saw was that Johnny didn't have his sunglasses on any more.

"I must ask you to drop your weapon", Crane had an uzi submachine gun pointed at her as he stood with his three ninjas surrounding him triumphantly.

She bitterly got back on her feet, thinking to herself that Crane was desperately trying to pretend that he had class. She withdrew her semiautomatic and dropped it around her feet as she stood at her full height.

"Kick it away", he ordered next and she complied.

"Now, as you can see, you're no match for me", Crane continued, pointing at Johnny and Liu, "I don't personally care for these two here, but you, lieutenant Blade of the U.S. Army Special Forces, have interested me quite a bit".

She was waiting for him to make his point, so he did.

"How would you like to join my organization?", he asked, "Not just as a simple member either, although that alone is an honor for anyone. But I'm talking about being my personal assistant, the number two leader of the Black Dragons. I could use someone like you, lieutenant Blade, as my recent... test with the two assassins has proven. Even if we end up reviving Kano, I'm sure he could be persuaded to allow you to keep the position".

She only stared at him, motionless.

"Come on! It can't be a hard decision to make!", Crane was surprised, "I'm offering you the chance of a lifetime here! You're practically unemployed! What would you rather be doing? Going from one dead-end job to another, unemployed and having to depend on your father or being the head of the most powerful organization on Earth? Besides, who's gonna hire somebody who can be nicknamed Scarface? Forget about these two losers here, you can start a brand-new life with us".

"In your dreams", she crossed her arms before continuing, "Loser".

"Come on!" he shot back, "Do you really think you have a chance when these two couldn't handle my crew? These guys are the best fighters money can buy".

Her comment clearly angered Crane, as was apparent from the expression on his face.

"You're nobody!", he barked as his ninjas closed in on her, "You always will be!".

"No, _you're_ the one who's a nobody", she changed into her fighting stance, "I'm Sonya, the mortal kombatant. Start dancing".

All three ninjas rushed forward as one. Sonya twisted to her left with her right arm bent, swung hard and caught the assassin at the farthest left in the jaw with her right knuckles. As she was surprised her victim didn't show any sign of pain, the second ninja sent a powerful uppercut that hit her under the chin and sent her flying back. She landed on her back and crawled as far as her disorganized state of mind could take her. She then stood about ten feet away from Johnny and Liu with the three ninjas again closing in on her as one from about ten feet in the other direction.

Before any of them could act, she reached down and smoothly withdrew the switchblade from her right ankle. The sharp blade snapped open after a slight push of her thumb as she held the weapon next to her face. For a few heartbeats, she seemed to be waiting to use it on the ninjas, and they stood back, pondering about the best way to overtake her. But before they knew it, Sonya just bolted towards her fellow kombatants. Crane could have shot all three of them then, but he was overly confident about his assassins' abilities and decided to watch an entertaining fight.

With the ninjas bolting towards her, she reached Liu first and swiftly cut the rope that bound his hands together. The White Lotus member was free before any of the Black Dragon assassins reached her and she was busy freeing an eager Johnny.

"Didn't anyone tell you that was no way to treat a lady?", Liu angrily snapped as Johnny's hands also flew apart, both kombatants simultaneously standing.

Liu jumped forward towards the three ninjas with his right fist extended. His knuckles slammed with a vengeance into the teeth of the ninja that had uppercut Sonya only seconds earlier. That one's head snapped back hard as blood from his mouth stained the lower half of his facemask.

"Now at least it's a fair fight", Johnny told himself as he executed his patented shadow kick.

The bottom of his foot impacted into the throat of one of the two ninjas who wasn't bleeding from the mouth. The kombatant's victim flew back and the back of his head hit the ground before any other part of his body. He desperately tried to stand up, only to be kicked in the stomach by a Johnny who was now taking his anger out through physical force.

"That was for taking my sunglasses, asshole", the actor let him know.

The last ninja leapt towards Sonya in a flying kick. She jumped to one side and rolled on the ground as she let go of the knife in order to successfully avoid his leg. Since she had never practiced fighting with a switchblade before, she knew the weapon would be useless now. The jump that helped her get out of the ninja's path of harm positioned her just two feet from the side of the cliff, so she kept the lack of space behind her in mind. As her ninja rushed forward, she twisted to her left and kicked him in the head with her right leg. Her ankle snapped his head to one side as he painfully staggered to her left.

Crane, in the meanwhile, knew that he needed some help if he had any hope of recovering Kano's body. Realizing that these fighters were on this island before, he did not want to open fire because he could've used one of them alive. Instead, he ran over to the edge of the cliff, recognizing that his side could win the fight with just a slight tip of the scales in his favor. As Sonya's ninja recovered from her kick to his head, she saw Crane coming towards her as fast as his legs could carry him. From the experience she had, she should've been able to sidestep him, but, as happens often to everyone, she momentarily froze. The next thing she witnessed was Crane hitting her as hard as he could and her being pushed back, over the edge of the cliff. Her eyes widened as she was forced back and felt no solid ground behind her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!", was the only instinctive yell she managed as she felt gravity pulling her down a 200-foot long drop to a watery grave.

"SONYAAA!!", Johnny swiftly let go of the ninja whose head he was pounding into the ground and charged towards her.

He managed to grab her hand with one hand of his own after she was already over the side. She hung over the sharp and rocky edge of the cliff, with his single hand being the only thing that kept her from a certain death.

"It's OK", he whispered as his eyes locked with hers, clearly seeing fear for the first time, "I got you".

Unfortunately, he did not get a chance to pull her up and she did not get a chance to use her hold of his hand to climb. That was because as Johnny let go of his opponent, two ninjas were left free to attack Liu. While Liu was then overwhelmed, the third ninja was free. That one quickly delivered a massive blow into Johnny's spinal cord, sending a jolt of pain through his body and forcing him to involuntarily release his grip on Sonya's hand. The last thing Johnny saw and heard was Sonya screaming and falling towards the waters down below. He then passed out.

While two of his ninjas pinned an agitated Liu against the ground, Crane ordered his third one to carry the unconscious Johnny towards the direction the kombatants had emerged earlier.

"Listen good, you vermin", Crane told Liu as he aimed the uzi at his head while his ninjas released the monk, "One of you is already dead. If you don't want the same to happen to the second one, you have to do something. I know you've been here before, during some kind of a tournament. Personally, I don't care why, but that means you know your way around this island more than us".

Liu stood up, wishing Crane wasn't armed.

"If you wanna see your friend alive", that one continued, "Find me Kano's body in one hour. We'll worry about the rest. If you have the body within one hour, your friend lives. If not, he'll never wake up again. Come on, guys".

The three ninjas calmly followed him without any hesitation, leaving Liu alone a few feet away from the edge of the cliff. The first thing the White Lotus member did was look over the edge. He didn't know what he expected to find, but he saw only the fierce waters crashing into the rocks down below. His heart broke as he came to terms with what happened to Sonya and he pulled himself away from the edge with his face in his palms.

XXXXXXXXXX

Unknown to Liu, the three ninjas who followed Crane were following further instructions from their leader.

"I want you to look for Kano's body as well", Crane spoke out loud as he headed down the natural path on the island.

He did not turn to look at the three masked fighters who were following him as he gave them the new orders. While one of the ninjas carried Johnny's unconscious figure over his right shoulder, the second of the three fighters asked the question that was on all their minds.

"But how are we supposed to do that?", the second ninja asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care", Crane still didn't turn around to face them as all four individuals kept walking, "But there's a good chance that chink we left behind doesn't know where to look. We might as well start a search party of our own".

"This island is quiet large, and we have no idea where Kano's body would have been stored", the same ninja replied.

"Then you better start looking", Crane added, "You have a lot of ground to cover".

Sonya, on her part, had thought her life was over for sure. No one could've survived such a fall, so she made her peace in the few seconds she had left as the edge of the cliff had gotten further within each passing moment. But then, instead of crashing hard into the water and feeling broken bones and the inability to breath, she saw white and felt her back landing suddenly on a smooth object. Despite the softness of the area she landed, her body ached badly because of the momentum she had gained as she fell. In shock and unable to talk, she watched motionless as she was quickly, yet gently, carried towards the anchored yacht down below. She still could not form any thoughts as she was brought to rest at the bottom of the rocky island, a mere ten feet away from the angry waves. Whatever carried her placed her on her feet and then vanished.

Still extremely confused, Sonya lost her balance and fell straight on her back. Shaking her head to make sure she hadn't imagined the occurrences of the last several seconds, she sat up and tried to stare up at the edge of the cliff. The next thing she saw was Rayden taking on his human form in front of her.

"How are you?", the deity asked.

"I'm fine!", she shakily stood up, understanding more, "It was _you_! You did this! You saved my life!".

"Yes", Rayden humbly smiled.

"My God!", she continued, still hysterical, "I was done for! I was done for! I felt myself falling down!".

She stopped, briefly staring at him as she calmed down before resuming.

"Wait a sec. I thought you said you couldn't help us once we were on the isle", she remembered, "What changed?".

"I am _not_ allowed to help mortals once they are here", the god explained, "If I had tried something like this during the tournament, Earth would have been disqualified and the portals would have swung open for Shao Kahn. But the tournament is finished now, so there is less at stake".

"But you _did_ save my life", she told him, feeling more grateful than words could explain.

"I merely felt like flying", Rayden explained with a smile, making it obvious he was lying, "The view of this island is beautiful when one is in the air. The fact that you happened to drop on me, and thus take advantage of the situation to save your own life, is only a coincidence".

"I don't know what to say", she smiled, "There's no way I could ever...".

"There is no need to repay me", the deity pointed up, towards the edge of the cliff, "They need you presently. You should go".

"Definitely", she looked up, already planning her payback.

It took Sonya about ten minutes to follow the rough trail until reaching the natural cave that led to the cliffside. Her body ached from the accelerated impact with Rayden as she tried to ignore the pain and hoped to find Liu and Johnny alive. Although Rayden's words of them needing her assistance was encouraging, she still braced herself for the worst. She hurried towards the edge and saw Liu as he was seated with his back turned to her and was facing towards the empty sea, obviously planning a strategy in his mind.

"Hey you!", she spoke up to surprise him, "You know of a good place that serves fast food around here?".

Startled, Liu spun around and sprang to his feet, ready to fight. Seeing his fellow kombatant shocked him to the point that his body snapped back so far that he almost stumbled over the edge himself. It took him a heartbeat to regain his composure, although his eyes remained wide open.

"How?", he asked more himself than her, "Are you a ghost?".

"I hope not", she smiled back, "You can't see through me, can you?".

"How is this possible?", he cautiously approached her, with his right hand extended in front of him.

"Rayden saved my life", she held his hand with her own and pulled it towards her. She pressed his palm against her left cheek and the cut that was there. It was only after this that Liu was totally convinced she was alive. The next thing Sonya noticed was the fact that Johnny couldn't be found anywhere.

"They are holding him", Liu read her mind as he withdrew his hand, "They want us to find Kano's body and to deliver it to them in exchange for his life".

"How are _we_ supposed to find it?", she asked.

"That is a good question", he answered.

She thought for several moments.

"We're _not_ gonna find it", she finally told him, "Even if we did, they would never let us get off this rock alive. We're a threat to Kano and his kind as long as we're alive and Crane knows it. You can bet they're gonna ambush us even if we do what they say. So, the best chance for us to get Johnny back is to ambush them first".

She spotted her Glock lying on the ground and proceeded to pick it up.

"When do they want Kano?", she asked him next.

"It was an hour after you fell", he told her, "Less than an hour now".

"Did he say where?".

"No", he had to admit, "That's just another factor that's in their favor".

"No, we're better than those ninjas. _That's_ our edge", she picked up her semiautomatic, "Why do you think they cheated every time the fighting started? During the first time, they took me out and made it three on two. During the second time, Crane had to push me over and again make it three to two in order for his losers to get the upper edge. They're cheating because they're afraid of us... Look, if they didn't say where to meet them, that means they plan to find you. Be at that warrior shrine in less than an hour, Liu, and we'll have a surprise waiting for Crane and his puppets".

"Assuming they did not murder him already", Liu looked and felt disgusted at his opponents' actions.

"Right", she repeated, "But if he is alive, we'll get him back. See, we have an advantage. They're only expecting you, not us. It's gonna end right here and now".

Sonya and Liu reached the warrior shrine in about twenty minutes and scanned the place. Finding no one watching the area or them, they plotted.

"Stay here, partner", she advised, looking at her watch, "When one hour hits, in less than thirty minutes now, I have a feeling they'll be looking for you. When they find you, we'll have some fireworks ready".

"Come again?", he was confused.

"I'll provide fire cover for you to try to grab Johnny out of their hands", she told him.

"Where will you be?".

"There", she pointed at Goro's fifteen-foot tall statue.

Sonya walked up to the statue and began climbing it, the muscles in her back protesting in agony. She ignored them and soon positioned herself behind Goro's massive upper back. Once there, she hid behind it to lessen the odds of being spotted and patiently waited for Crane and his assassins.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Crane and the ninjas found Liu sitting in the middle of the warrior shrine about fifteen minutes after the hour had passed. One of the ninjas carried an unconscious Johnny on his shoulders as all four men entered the shrine together, looking up in awe at the magnificent statues.

"What the heck is _that_?", Crane saw Goro for the first time as he made his way towards Liu, still carrying his uzi submachine gun.

His attention soon changed towards the monk as that one calmly stood up and faced his foes.

"Did you find Kano?", Crane demanded from about fifteen feet away.

"No", he frankly answered.

"That's fine, because _we_ already did", the Black Dragons leader said with a large grin on his face, "But I told you what would happen if you didn't come through for us. The less people leave this island alive, the less the chances our surprise has of being discovered before we want it to".

"So did you bring him back from the dead?", Liu questioned, not knowing whether to believe his opponent's words.

"It's being worked on", Crane went on as he pointed at Johnny, still smiling, "We've put him on an alter which we think will do the trick. But too bad no one will be bringing you or your friend here back after we kill you both".

"You do what you have to", the monk crossed his arms.

The ninja set Johnny down on the ground and withdrew a few ounces of grayish powder from inside his uniform.

"He woke up after we took him", Crane explained, "But he proved to be a bit too... unruly. So we had to deal with him again. Anyway, I want him to be awake to see the end coming".

Johnny snapped awake within seconds as the powder was spread under his nose. Seeing the ninjas, he angrily jumped back on his feet, lunging at Crane.

"YOU ASSHOLE!!", he yelled as two ninjas restrained him, "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!! I'M GONNA PUNCH YOUR HEAD OFF BEFORE THIS IS DONE!!".

"Please", Crane seemed unimpressed as two of his ninjas overtook the actor and twisted his arms behind him.

Johnny saw Liu standing several feet away. He could tell the monk was waiting for something, maybe for a more vulnerable target to strike at, the actor guessed, one where he wouldn't be put in danger.

"Liu!", he told him, still shaking vigorously within the ninjas' grip, "Go ahead and attack, man! Don't worry about me. Just tear that motherfucker apart. You gotta do it for _her_, man!".

The third ninja who wasn't busy with the actor reached into his outfit and withdrew a five-inch long, razor-sharp curved knife. He menacingly approached Johnny with it, who was not helpless once he swung the blade. Johnny was still wondering why Liu didn't strike, he was about to be murdered for crying out loud, he thought. Liu couldn't possibly put him into any more risk than he was presently by assaulting them.

"Liu, man, come on!", he said as the ninja was within three feet of him and advancing, "After all we've been through, you can't...".

He didn't get a chance to finish because Sonya peeked out from behind Goro's upper back. She was holding on to the statue with her left hand and had the semiautomatic in her right as she aimed her weapon. The slight change in the air was enough to warn the three ninjas that something was wrong, so all three turned their attention towards the statue. The ninja who was about to slash Johnny turned, looked up and saw Sonya's face and hand amoment before she pulled the trigger once. A 9mm round shot out of the Glock and found its mark at the center of his chest. He let go of the knife, was hurled backwards and crashed into Crane, still without a single sound. Crane pushed him off and he fell on the ground on his back, bleeding to death and unsuccessfully trying to breath.

The second ninja struck back as he and ninja #3 released Johnny. He withdrew four small, shiny spheres that he threw towards Goro's statue. The spheres hit Goro's chest before Sonya could fire for a second time and exploded on impact, tearing a two-foot deep hole in the statue's chest. The force of the explosion pushed Sonya off the back of the statue and she dropped the handgun as she fell the eight feet between her spot and the ground. She landed painfully on her injured back, although managing to stand back up fast.

She was alert enough to see Liu executing a flying kick towards the ninja who had forced her off the statue while Johnny tackled Crane. Ninja #3, seeing an unfair battle since it would've been two of them against three kombatants as soon as Johnny finished Crane, decided to run. He turned and bolted towards the entrance from which they had come. Sonya guessed that he was headed back for the yacht, so she decided to try to intercept. Without stopping to pick up her trusty Glock, she zeroed in after him.

Johnny and Crane fought for control of the uzi as the weapon began firing in every direction into the air. The kombatant proceeded to kick him just below the knee, sending Crane down on his knees as he let go of the weapon and screamed. Although still dazed from being knocked out twice in one day, Johnny followed with a smooth roundhouse kick to the side of his opponent's head, knocking him down on his back. Johnny next picked him several inches off the ground by his collar with one hand and proceeded to send an endless hail of punches towards his face with the other hand. Every decisive punch destroyed Crane more by breaking his nose, several of his teeth and tearing his lips. With his adversary clearly defeated, Johnny easily pulled him and made him stand back up on his knees.

"Since you like hitting people in the back of the head so much, see what I learned over the years", the kombatant said before stepping around him.

Johnny stood behind him by holding the back of his collar with a left grip. The kombatant then turned his right hand into a potent fist and punched the organized crime leader in a specific spot on the back of the head. Crane's eye sockets exploded in pain as his eyes burst out of his head. He fell forward on his stomach and landed on the ground about two seconds after his eyeballs did. After a brief glance at him, Johnny knew he was dead.

Liu swung his body forward and leapt towards the remaining ninja as he pedaled his legs as if he was riding a bicycle. He struck the ninja in the chest about a dozen times in that fashion before he was forced to come back down on his feet. The second ninja swung with his right arm, the right fist colliding with Liu's jaw before the ninja's elbow then slammed into the same exact spot. Although enough to virtually destroy an ordinary opponent, the blow barely intimidated Liu. He struck back with a sharp and high front kick that cracked into his opponent's chin. Distracted, the ninja tried to execute a high front kick of his own, but Liu saw the bottom of his shoe coming at his face and caught his opponent's ankle with both his hands. Before the ninja could try to pull his leg back or strike in another fashion, Liu let go of the ankle with his right hand while still retaining his left grip on it. Curling his right arm, the monk sent his elbow squarely into the ninja's kicking knee. The ninja finally screamed as his knee snapped and was bent backwards against its natural angle, clearly broken. Liu let him go and, seeing him limping and struggling just to remain standing, sent a roundhouse kick towards his face. The ninja dropped to the ground and crawled away as Liu kept coming towards him.

The ninja pulled out a knife much like the one that his dying partner had tried to kill Johnny with. Trying to stand up, he swung the blade in a threatening manner. Liu easily grabbed his wrist with one hand and forcefully pulled him up to his feet with it. The ninja was yanked up before Liu punched him in the stomach with the free hand and made him release his grip on the knife. The next thing the ninja saw was Liu's palm coming straight for his face. The kombatant's palm struck him in the nose at a perfect angle and the ninja saw stars before he slowly fell on his back, deaddue tothebone fragments from his noseentering his brain.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As the third ninja ran for the yacht, he personally believed he was free. He reasoned that all three of their opponents would be busy finishing off Crane and the second ninja and he would be sailing away before anyone caught up with him. He remembered the way on this inhospitable island and knew that the yacht was anchored around the corner from the naturally rugged passageway that was covered by hills. He eagerly ran around the last corner and stopped cold as he saw the expensive boat anchored about a sixty yards away, dancing in the wild waves. The reason he stopped was because he saw the blonde in the black pants and tank top standing halfway between him and the boat itself. She had her feet planted on the ground, but her upper body was slightly swaying back and forth around her still feet, waiting for the upcoming confrontation.

"OK, tough guy", she told him as he calmly approached her in a steady walk, "Let's see how good you are when it's one on one".

The ninja had no idea how she survived the fall over the edge of the cliff, all he knew was that once she was through with her, he would make sure she remained dead. He positioned himself in his fighting stance about twenty feet away as Sonya ceased the oscillating. They faced each other in such away, two fighters dressed in black and about to lock in combat. With her back still annoying her with pain, Sonya struck first.

She rushed three steps forward and concentrated her strength in her left leg as she twisted to her left and flew towards him with her right leg extended. The ninja, ready for a flying kick, smoothly stepped to her right and she flew past him. During the flight, though, as her upper body met his, he extended his left arm in front of him and her neck impacted into his forearm. Sonya's torso snapped back as she fell disorganized on her back. She was on her hands and knees for a split second, trying to catch her breath, when the ninja kicked her in the stomach. The two hits together almost flattened her body on the ground and made her cough, but she succeeded in rolling away as she saw him raise his leg to crush her head under his foot.

Sonya quickly forced herself back on her feet, staring at her opponent from about six feet away now. She wasn't sure, but locking eyes with him, she believed he was smiling under the mask. Desiring to wipe that possible smirk off his face, she twisted and executed a roundhouse kick aimed for his head. The ninja raised his forearm a few inches in front and to the side of his head and the back of her ankle crashed into it, hurting both her foot and his arm. Before he could counterattack, she flipped upside down and planted both her ankles on either side of his chest. This time, the ninja was caught unprepared and he found himself being hurled in a perfect semicircle over her before he landed on his back several feet behind her. With the waves crashing thirty yards away, the ninja got back on his feet just as Sonya flipped right side up again, both in their fighting stance again. She decided not to attempt a leg toss again because he would be expecting it and he would duck, leaving her vulnerable while she was supporting her body on her hands alone.

She twisted to her left, raising her right leg and sending it straight towards his stomach in a kick that would've proven to be painful if it found its mark. The ninja saw it coming and carefully sidestepped to the right again, letting her foot sail past his stomach into the air from several inches away. As she withdrew her kicking leg, he kneed her in the stomach. Bent over and gasping, Sonya quickly withdrew several steps away in order to keep him from striking again. He eagerly, yet controllably, followed her, reinforcing the notion in her mind that there was no retreat possible. With her abdominal muscles protesting, she stood up straight as he reached her and sent a sharp left uppercut under his chin. Surprised to be on the receiving end of the blows, the ninja's head snapped back and he momentarily held his mouth.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Sonya sent a second right fist into his stomach and forced the air out of his lungs in his own turn. Before she could deliver a third hit, the ninja gathered his thoughts and formed a tight fist with his right hand. He then sent his fist straight into her neck with all the strength he could muster. Sonya felt a paralyzing force that was almost enough to crush her windpipe as she was thrust back so fast that her legs shot up into the air before her back slammed into the ground. Turning on one side, she instinctively held her throat with one hand as she frantically tried to breath. She only heard a snoring sound exit her throat every time she tried to inhale or exhale. She knew the fight was over if she couldn't regain her breath and, to make things worse, the ninja proudly bent over and gripped her throat with his right hand. He easily pulled her up to her knees while she still couldn't breathe.

The ninja swiftly positioned both his hands around her throat as he stared down into her eyes and applied all the force his fingers could manage. Coughing and trying to shake her head out of his choke hold in a futile attempt, she grasped one of his wrists with each of her hands. Still locking eyes, he pushed his strength her throat and she pulled away from it. Initially, it was clear the ninja was the stronger of the two because his hold on her throat did not yield, and neither did the benumbing effect that the lack of oxygen brought. Not willing to give up, Sonya summoned all the strength and anger she had available and concentrated them on her hands alone. Tightening up all her muscles, she tried to pull his hands apart with every ounce of energy she possessed. Unfortunately, her opponent proved to be too great an adversary this time and her attempt failed. His grip only seemed to get tighter with every bit of resistance she put up. Her eyesight began to fail as she felt her body involuntarily shaking in his grip. She heard a dying moan that originated deep in her throat and it slowly faded away, her life fading out of her body with it.

Sonya's strength finally gave out and her hands merely rested on the ninja's wrists without exerting any more pressure against them. Her eyes began to close and she felt the suffocating hold on her throat less with every second that went by. Still looking up at her executioner, her eyesight dimmed and everything she saw began to darken.

The ninja was so immersed in his work by then that he didn't notice Johnny and Liu as they reached him from behind. Although Sonya didn't know it, Liu placed one hand on the ninja's shoulder from behind and spun him around. The ninja involuntarily let her go and turned around just in time to see Johnny's enraged fist coming straight at his face. The kombatant's knuckles impacted into the bridge of his nose and spun him back towards the direction he was faced before. With his eyes wide open for a second, the ninja saw stars and then closed his eyes as he fell unconscious on his side. While still on her knees, Sonya fell flat on her back just two feet away from him. Her eyes were partly open, but she couldn't see anything. Her body convulsed as she slowly, and painfully, accepted air into her lungs.

XXXXXXXXXXX

It took her over half an hour before she was able to exhale completely, although her lungs still complained. She had already returned to the warrior shrine and had recovered the Glock, which was back strapped in her hip holster. She was also squatting near the sharp rocks with her feet a few inches in the water as she washed her face. She stood up straight and stared at the still inanimate ninja who lay about thirty yards away, with Liu standing over him. Johnny walked over to her, believing he had stayed away long enough.

"How are you feeling?", he asked as soon as he reached her.

"Just fine", she gave half a smile, "And you?".

"The same", Johnny told her.

Before she was about to turn to see the only Black Dragons assassin left, he stopped her.

"I gotta know something", he simply had to satisfy his curiosity, "How did you survive that fall off the edge when _Goro_ didn't?".

"It was Rayden. He saved me", she let him know.

"Just make sure you don't do anything like that again", he warned, remembering the look in her eyes when he let go of her hand.

"What if they need a stuntperson for a movie somewhere?", she snickered.

"Don't joke about that, Sonya!", he countered.

"OK, OK", she held up her hands.

"Nobody should have to look into someone else's eyes when that happens", he recalled.

"I know", she embraced him as she noticed Rayden forming several steps away.

"There _are_ places more appropriate for such actions", the deity told them in his usual voice, smiling.

"Ooh, that's funny", Sonya looked at him while separating from the actor, "A comedian now? You too? Well, I guess you deserve it after what you did for us. I'm glad to be with both you guys. And Liu too. He must've been sooo worried when he saw me going over".

The White Lotus monk heard his name heard his name being mentioned and only waved towards the trio, still not wanting to leave the unconscious third ninja's side.

"So what happens to this dirtbag here?", Johnny asked him, pointing at the ninja, "He's still alive, I think".

"We should turn him over to the proper authorities", Liu answered from thirty yards away, "It is the only sensible thing to do".

"The proper authorities? The _proper authorities_?", the actor repeated, "And what are we supposed to tell'em? That he tried to commit two murders in some magical island somewhere?".

"Allow me to take care of this individual", Rayden announced with a poker face and a steady voice, revealing nothing about his plans.

Trusting the thunder god, Liu stepped away from the ninja and towards the others before Rayden placed his palms together. When he pulled them away, a small and shiny sphere slowly made its way towards the ninja. The sphere expanded until it had a radius of approximately six feet. It then engulfed the ninja before Rayden placed his palms together again. Both the sphere and the god slowly vanished.

"Don't forget about us", Johnny told him while traces of him still remained, "Or we'll have to take Crane's yacht back home".

"Do not worry", the deity answered and then disappeared completely.

"One thing that is still on my mind", Liu said after Rayden was gone, "What alter was Crane talking about?".

"Huh?", was the actor's response as the monk came closer.

"Crane said he had found Kano's body and had then placed it on an alter in an attempt to revive him", Liu went on, "But he did not mention where".

"Well, you don't think it's even poss...", Sonya's statement was interrupted as all three individuals saw movement from about a hundred yards away.

All three fighters turned to see a figure in a red outfit emerging from the inside of the island towards the beach, and thus them. The person was staggering, as if he was in a daze. It took the three kombatants a few seconds before they realized the person who was incoherently approaching them was Kano. Sonya's eyes widened as she saw her old mortal enemy alive, though Kano did not seem to be fully awake yet.

"Son of a bitch", she whispered, "That prick Crane did it. He actually did it. And he gave him a brand-new uniform too".

Before Johnny or Liu could say anything, she withdrew the Glock and aimed it directly into Kano's chest as her adversary kept advancing and trying not to trip. Kano still could not identify the individuals who now stood motionless about twenty yards in front of him, as his state of mind was still not totally developed since being brought back from the dead just a short time ago by the island's mystic alter. He thus did not realize that the woman who pointed an unrecognizable metallic object at him was actually a threat. Before he took another step, though, Sonya had seen enough.

"Go back to being dead, tough guy", she told him out loud.

Kano stopped advancing for an instant, his metallic eye staring at her with a confused look on his face. He grunted once, unable to understand her words, before Sonya pulled the trigger once. A 9mm round exploded into Kano's chest and knocked him down on his back. The former Black Dragons leader crashed on the ground and was dead again within seconds.

Seated on the sandy beach, Sonya was staring at the sky over the beach of the island about thirty minutes afterwards. Rayden still hadn't returned, although she was sure he would be back soon. She just wanted to enjoy the cool sea air while she still could. Besides, she reasoned, her lungs felt better in a chilly environment. That was good because the ache in her lungs had quickly made her forget about her back.

"Wadda you thinking about?", she heard.

She looked up to see her two fellow kombatants sitting down next to her.

"Nothing, I guess", she told them the truth, "It's just hard to believe how nice this place looks when people aren't fighting or killing each other".

"I have to agree on that", Johnny told her, staring at the waves.

"It's just that, I'm thinking what's gonna happen when I go back home", she added, "Here, we're three of the best ever. We've got purpose. I'm gonna go back home to get a nine to five job in a grocery store. It's almost reason enough to stay here for good. But then again, there's daddy and Scott back home and not here".

"We'll _always_ be the mortal kombatants", Liu assured, "That is not changing, no matter where any of us are".

"Yeah", she smiled, "I just better remember that when I'm busy filling out applications. That guy from the Dragons told me he didn't tell my current employer about my absence. Meaning I lost my job".

"Well, maybe you can tell him you got mugged on your way to work", Johnny advised, "You could also say you had to spend all day at the hospital. You've got the scars to prove it".

"Yeah", she said before she thought about it and realized the plan would probably work, so she smiled, "YEAH!".

She turned to Johnny with the smile.

"Thanks!", she looked grateful.

"You're welcome", the actor said, "I'm always full of good ideas".

"Yeah", she turned her attention back towards the sea, still smiling, "But you guys _are_ planning to stick around once we're back in the states, right? I mean, you're not just gonna leave the next day and drop me a line once every three or four years".

"I'll be around", Liu said.

"Me too", Johnny added, "You're not getting rid of me. Even if you want to".


	6. Final Confrontation 6

The ninja seemed to be nothing but a shadow with a pair of bright eyes as his pitch black outfit covered him from head to toe. He could not see around him, for all he knew there might have been someone with a gun aimed at his face standing just a foot ahead. Not wanting to be helpless, he guided his right hand towards his belt and felt for his weapons. After feeling familiar throwing stars and miniature explosives for about two seconds, his fingers gladly wrapped around his nightvision glasses. The ninja hurriedly pulled the dark colored glasses out and proceeded to wear it because he felt anxious as he was taught to be when not in full control, thus covering his eyes as well. He knew he could never stand the idea of being a sitting duck as the bright green light from the nightvision glasses illuminated his view of the surroundings. He sighed.

Unfortunately, his relief was short-lived because even the advanced technology of the glasses could not help him see any better. The ninja became desperate, knowing someone was doing this to him but not what that person's plan with him was. He didn't have long to worry about it because a blazing white light appeared out of nowhere in front of him. He realized the light should've destroyed his eyes since the glasses multiplied any brightness by a factor of thirty, but for some reason, his eyes gave no hint of stress. Instead, the ninja felt eerily comfortable as a man emerged from behind the light and the luster soon engulfed him. The man was dressed in a white outfit, almost as if he was trying to become his opposite, the ninja thought. Despite the straw hat he wore, the ninja could still see that his hair was the color of snow.

The man did not act in an aggressive manner, only bowed his head slightly as he stared into what would have been the ninja's eyes if they weren't sheltered by the glasses. Nonetheless, the ninja did not want to take chances. He swiftly changed into his fighting stance, glancing at the man with suspicion.

"Who are you?", the ninja demanded first.

No answer, just the same stare.

"WHO ARE YOU?", the ninja raised his voice, feeling more nervous than angry.

"I am known by many names", the man told him, "But you may call me Rayden, the thunder god and the protector of Earth".

The ninja would have answered with sarcasm at such a title before, but an aura surrounding his visitor persuaded him to take this one seriously.

"And your business with me?", he asked next still without relaxing from his stance.

"I want to help you see the truth", Rayden answered, as if the ninja should have already known.

"Help me see the truth", the ninja repeated, "And how, pray tell, do you plan to do that?".

It was obvious from his tone of voice that he didn't think Rayden was here for his well-being, and the thunder god could see it.

"Did you really enjoy what you have just attempted?", the god interjected, "You would have killed her if her two friends had not caught up to you in time".

"You mean the blonde?", the ninja finally realized what the god was talking about, his fight with the one his boss called Sonya had left him feeling worthless, "Why is _she_ any of your concern?".

There was a pause before the ninja grinned under his mask.

"Why, god? Are you infatuated with her? You can tell me", he could feel his bravado returning now that he could see the person responsible for bringing him here, wherever here was.

"No", Rayden frankly replied, "Only that it would have been yet another death that was directly attributed to you. I am forced to wonder how your conscience can handle it".

"I can handle it just fine, thank you", the ninja went on, not being in the mood for a moral judgment.

Rayden raised his right hand as he outstretched his arm with the palm facing the ninja. A bolt of electricity shot out of his palm and struck the ninja, hurling him backwards and slamming his back against an invisible wall. The electricity surrounded him and kept him pinned against the barrier that he couldn't see, but the ninja felt no shock or pain whatsoever.

"What are you doing?", he demanded again, unable to move, "Why do you have to cheat in order to fight me? I thought you said you were a god! You have to do this first in order to kill me because you're afraid?".

"I am not going to kill you", Rayden said in a grim voice, "That would be too easy".

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?", the ninja yelled out, "STOP IT!".

Rayden wasn't listening because the next thing the ninja felt was pain. Pain more intense than anything even he had experienced before. He wondered where it was coming from as he started screaming. Then it made sense to him. The ache was fierce because that was what he had created. Between the overwhelming agony and his shrieks, he realized he was feeling the exact emotions that his victims had gone through, every single victim that he had murdered in the name of the Black Dragon.

The self-torture lasted about five minutes, although it subjectively felt more like five years when it finally stopped. The electricity that had restrained him vanished and the ninja dropped, exhausted, on an invisible ground. His body trembled as he saw the truth that Rayden had described. His only purpose in life had been to bring misery to others, nothing else.

"Ugghhh", he tried to sit up and failed, "What have I done?... What have I done?".

"It is all over now", Rayden consoled from afar, "I will take you somewhere so you can be in peace".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was seated in a squatting position on the ground outside her home, dressed in the usual shorts and untucked T-shirt. Her back was flat against the wall. It was a moonless night and it was only with the help of the streetlights that one could go anywhere without bumping into a parked car, a tree or a side of someone else's home. Johnny was out shooting his latest film and Liu had volunteered to tag along to offer his expertise in the martial arts in the hopes of making the fight scenes in the movie look even better. Scott was inside, still nursing his wounded arm, even though he had been released from the hospital a short while ago. Her father was out on some business with the military as usual. The neighborhood seemed pretty boring, which was just fine with her, since no news was definitely good news to her ears. It was so dull, in fact, it actually gave her a chance to simply be alone with her thoughts and daydream for a while. Her mind wandered off as she stared right ahead with a blank, happy expression on her face.

Her daydream was cut short as she heard footsteps to her left. She turned her head towards the source of the noise. She didn't see anything for a handful of seconds, but a silhouette soon emerged from among the shadows and the dimness because her eyes were already accustomed to the dark. The figure calmly walked towards her from about thirty feet away. Still keeping her eyes on him, she followed the path he was taking as she wondered why he was heading for her. She still saw nothing unusual as the person kept getting closer until there was only ten feet of concrete separating them. It was only then that she recognized him as the perfect twin of the ninja she had fought on Shang Tsung's island, the one who had nearly suffocated her to death. The only difference was that this ninja had a pair of nightvision glasses that her opponent hadn't worn on the island. Her mind became more attentive, telling her that it was the same person.

Adrenaline rushed through her as Sonya promptly jumped up to her feet, ignoring the nagging questions in the back of her mind that asked how it was possible that they saw each other again. Eyes wide, she changed into her fighting stance as the ninja stopped as soon as he saw her getting up.

"You!!", she exclaimed, wanting to make his visit short and violent.

The ninja tried to raise his hands in an attempt to show her that he was not looking for a fight, but Sonya had already rushed forward. She planted the bottom of her foot into his chest before he could even get both hands up. The ninja groaned as his body shot up and backwards for about a foot into the air before he fell down, his back slamming hard into the ground.

"Wait!", he raised his right hand in front of his face as he tried to stand back up.

Unfortunately, Sonya was already upon him, the memories of their last standoff still fresh in her mind.

"You son of a bitch!!", she barked as she sent a solid punch into his jaw, knocking him back down.

She next kicked him in the side of the stomach, wanting to hurt him as much as possible. Three sharp kicks found their mark in his midsection, with a fourth kick delivering a punishing blow to his head. All that time, the ninja kept trying to talk her into calming down, with no success. He finally decided this beating could not go on and easily leg sweeped her. Her ankles were whisked out from under her and she found herself crashing down on her left side. As she tried to stand up in her own turn, the ninja grabbed both her shoulders and pinned them on the ground, concentrating his weight on top of her body to keep her from moving.

"Calm yourself", he ordered, looking down at her.

Before he could say anything else, though, Sonya pulled her right arm and shoulder towards her torso, thus releasing them from his grip as his left hand bluntly met the concrete. She next delivered another punch to his jaw, knocking him off her and quickly standing up as his body weight was shifted away.

They both found their balance and stood straight. Before either one could react, they heard the door to her home opening. While only glancing in that direction for a fraction of a second in order to keep her opponent from gaining an advantage, Sonya saw to her delight that it was Scott who opened it. He was holding his Beretta 92F pistol in one hand as he had clearly heard her fighting.

"What's going on?? What's wrong??", her Special Forces partner asked, still keeping the handgun aimed towards the floor.

"He attacked me", she pointed her right index finger at the ninja as she took several steps backwards and away from him, "He was one of the Black Dragon assassins who tried to kill me on the island. He came back to finish the job".

Hearing that, Scott didn't waste any time pointing his weapon at the ninja as he stepped outside, though with difficulty, and let the door close behind him. The ninja did not move, not wanting to give him a reason to overreact.

"Shoot him!", Sonya ordered, panting,

Scott just stood there, eyes locked with the ninja, who was also immobile.

"Scott, shoot him!!", Sonya went on.

Scott and the ninja still remained frozen.

"GODDAMN IT, SCOTT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?", she was screaming now, "SHOOT HIM, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!! SHOOT HIM!!".

She couldn't understand the confused look on Scott's face. She asked herself why he wasn't reacting. As she was still wondering about it, the ninja proceeded to take off his nightvision glasses. He next gripped the mask and smoothly pulled it off his face. Under the mask, he wore a menacing grin as his eyes were already locked with Scott's. Both Scott's and Sonya's mouth widened as Scott found himself staring at his own reflection in a ninja outfit. The ninja was his twin in every way, except for being somewhat more muscular.

"Well", the ninja's grin did not vanish as he spoke to Scott, "It's about time we met".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ninja did not give Scott or Sonya any more trouble. Curiosity having overcome them, and wishing to believe his tale of only having come here to talk to them, they abruptly dragged him inside Sonya's home. They wanted to make sure the noise from the fight between Scott's twin and Sonya, and especially her screams to have him shot, did not attract any inquiring onlookers.

Scott was busy trying to piece the sudden twist of events together in his head. He wasn't surprised that such an occurrence took place so soon after he returned from the hospital. In his life, ever since he had met the kombatants, it was almost expected. In fact, he thought to himself that he would've been astounded if nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"How old are you?", he stared into his twin's eyes, desperately trying to tell from his reaction whether or not he was lying.

"Let's just say I'm younger than you", his twin sighed, "Hell, if you counted all the years I've been alive, you wouldn't reach the double digits".

The twin's eyes were completely steady as he responded, prompting Scott to believe that he wasn't lying. Sonya was not concerned about the twin's honesty at the moment. She was simply keeping him under her watch in case his entire story had been nothing but a ruse to gain access to the both of them together.

"I don't believe this", Scott told more himself than her, "You're a clone... You're a goddamn clone... Of me!".

Sonya didn't immediately grasp his words, so her facial expression remained unchanged.

"There was only one time when this could've happened", Scott continued, doing his best to remember, "The first time I went up against those sons of bitches. That was the only time I spilled my own blood".

His twin didn't respond, only shifted his eyes, insinuating that Scott was getting closer to the truth.

"I left my blood behind without cleaning it up. When they came in afterwards, they _had_ to have been impressed that one person could've just wiped them out like that. They figured they could use someone like that person working for them, and that's why _you_ were created. That's how a clone is created, isn't it? By a sample of the donor, like blood for instance", Scott asked him.

"Wait a second", Sonya finally caught up to him, "What makes you so sure? You see your twin brother come in here and you think he's a clone?".

"I don't _have_ a brother, sis", Scott let her know, "I never did. I was an only child".

"Well then, maybe someone's trying to screw with us!", she added, with more force, "Can't plastic surgery do this? Maybe just to get him in here, gain your, or should I say our, trust, and then stab us all in the back".

"That might've been a possibility, but only for one problem", Scott went on, "I was dressed exactly like him the day that I spilled blood. That's why I froze when I had my gun on him. The ninja outfit with the nightvision glasses was exactly what I had on that day".

"_What_ day?!?", she was getting more nervous than impatient, "You keep referring to a time when you fought with somebody and lost some blood and now there's a clone of you running around? Am I the only one here who's confused?".

Scott's twin didn't even try to speak up, knowing for sure that the original would be able to explain better than him. The original Scott and Sonya were staring at each other, so the twin decided it was better to let the scene play itself out.

"What?", she asked him in a softer tone, almost a whisper, as she braced herself for his response, "Is there something about you that you haven't told me?".

"Sonya", Scott sighed, wishing he didn't have to recall, "Didn't you ever find it strange that I was so eager to help you out when you returned from the tournament, after you had gone after Kano and disappeared into that boat?".

"Well.... No", she had to admit.

"OK, and that's fine. But the truth is, I was looking after you because I felt bad for you. I had done exactly what you had done with Kano, except I had done it several years before".

She waited for him to finish as he took time to carefully choose his words.

"OK", he sighed again, wishing that he was somewhere else, "From the start, and the whole truth this time. The main reason the Black Dragons is so rich right now is because they started their fortune in the drug business. Their business was strengthened with the help of aliens, believe it or not, and I _do_ mean the kind that travel across space in ships. I don't know how they ran into these aliens in the first place, but they had a bond. The aliens supplied them with the drugs, the Dragons tried to flood the entire globe with it, and I'm sure the aliens got something out of it as well. I dunno, maybe they had gone on a spree to make sure every life in the universe was destroyed except for them. Anyway, several years back, I accidentally ran into of those losers as he was about to deliver a 'routine' hit on a rival syndicate member in a public train station. I had no idea who was trying to shoot who, I just tackled the guy who was taking aim with the gun with the silencer on it and so the hit was a miss and these lowlifes began bugging me because of it. But the annoyance was just the start... One day, this alien that I saw for the first time breaks into my place and takes a shot at me. I would've been a goner too, except this idiot was a bad shot and he ended up killing my best friend instead. As he's about to turn around and leave, he says something like 'Chaves sends his regards'. I guess he figured as long as he wasted somebody that I cared about, that was almost as good as wasting me".

Scott stopped there, wanting to give Sonya a chance to accept all the information.

"Chaves? Who's Chaves?", she asked, interested.

"Chaves was this fifty year old guy who was, back then, what Kano and Benson were when you ran into them", he explained as he started pacing the living room, "So I really didn't know what to do. I knew where this asshole lived because he was like one of the richest people on the planet and he had a mansion just outside of Washington DC. I decided to drop by, not even knowing what I was trying to achieve. Anyway, once there, I hear this alien talking to this Chaves character and he's telling him of how he's got this new superdrug that is so potent that it will addict any person after the very first use. And once it's out, the only way an addict will be allowed to get more will be if he or she purposefully gets someone else addicted. That's what they were planning. This was their idea of going for world domination, having everyone at the tip of their fingers with the help of this superdrug. Just as I'm getting some brave ideas about how I should get out of there and tell the police, some of their goons jump me from behind. I swear, every one of those pigs was high on steroids".

He stopped again, looking at both Sonya and his twin to see if they believed his story, which they seemed to do, although Sonya seemed to be more intrigued by it and more sympathetic towards him. But then again, he told himself, he could expect no less from his sister.

"I swear, I was barely out of high school by then", he proceeded, "So this Chaves pig has me tied up as him, the alien, his goons stare at me as they're in front of those superdrugs, thinking they're the last things I'm gonna see before I'm dead. And there was Chaves's girlfriend too, this bitch was at most as old as I was back then and she was with him, go figure. So he's proudly lecturing me about how this is the end of the world as I know it and the next thing I know, he takes out this remote control thing and presses a button and every last bit of the drugs in the warehouse just vanishes into thin air! I couldn't believe my eyes, it was the alien's technology that was making it possible. He figured the drugs were hitting the streets tomorrow, so even if the police _did_ manage to obtain any type of search warrant, which was impossible anyway, all he had to do to destroy the evidence was press a button. With that, he laughs, and he and his sex toy and the alien and a majority of the goons leave after he tells two of his goons to finish me off. Those two goons made a mistake, in that they assumed I wouldn't fight back just because they were both bigger than me. That cost'em because I sent my elbow into the first one's stomach and my fist into the second one's face and I bolted outta there while they were still catching their breath. But see, Chaves was pompous, and careless. He assumed that I couldn't do anything to him legally by the next day, which was true, so he thought he was safe. But I went back home, got dressed in my ninja outfit, grabbed the Beretta, my hunting knife, the nightvision glasses and my grappling hook and came back. I climbed to the roof of Chaves's mansion and the first human shape I saw was about thirty yards in front of me. It was nighttime outside and I had the nightvision on, so I think I saw him but not the other way around because he was holding this giant flashlight to patrol the area. Every one of Chaves's goons must've been on steroids or something, I still remember how muscular his silhouette looked. I was squatted down as he calmly walked towards me. When he was about fifteen yards away, I just charged at him. He reached for his uzi submachine gun, but I brought down my fist on his head with all the strength I had. He didn't pass out, of course, only stumbled down. As he was trying to get up, I hit him over the head with the Beretta and put him to sleep for sure. While he was in dreamland, I figured I might as well search him, found he had a silencer on his uzi and it turned out to fit fine for the Beretta, so I took it for the pistol".

"Just then, though, the guard wakes back up and tries to get his hands on his uzi again", Scott recollected, "I grab his wrist with my left hand and we just stay like that in a standstill. But he was getting stronger while I was getting weaker. So I just aimed at his head with the Beretta in my right hand and a round quietly split his skull in half. The silencer must've been real quality to suppress the noise from the gun like that, I'll tell you that much. After that, I come down from the roof. After the first door I open, this other guard is standing on the other side and he's surprised as he reaches for his uzi also. We found ourselves staring at each other from ten yards away. He levels his weapon, I level mine and I squeeze the trigger before he does. The bullet goes clean through his neck and he falls down as he's firing rounds in every direction, damn near hit me by chance, but not quiet. By that time, I was starting to enjoy this stuff. I walk over to him as he's convulsing and bleeding like a pint of blood every ten seconds and I calmly aim the Beretta into the center of his chest. He saw the barrel of the gun, just like I wanted him to, but he couldn't stop what was about to happen. I pull the trigger one more time and he stops moving all together. With every person I wasted, my friend's death was bothering me less and less. I barely got ten steps away before a third goon appeared. He fires, I drop to the floor and shoot back three times, and we both miss. His second try was still careless, though, and all he did was screw up the wall a few inches above my head. _My_ second try put two bullets in his chest. That went on, a handful of more guards bought the farm one by one as I ran into them while looking for Chaves and the alien. Then I run into Chaves's girlfriend of all people. I can see she's scared and that she's trying to stall me to get away, but when another goon appears, he tackles me and she's screaming at him to rip my head off. We fight for my gun, the goon gets hit in the stomach. While he's lying on the floor, still screaming, all I remember is rage. I aim at Chaves's girlfriend while she's begging me to let her go and I blow her goddamn brains out. The alien saw me soon after, and he was one strong son of a bitch, although I'm sure nothing when compared to Goro. A magnetic force suddenly pulls my Beretta and my grappling hook away from me. The alien wanted to disarm me, which he did, and he also starts coming at me unarmed, pretty clear he wanted to beat my face in first. But what he didn't know was that the hunting knife was _inside_ the ninja outfit. I knew it wouldn't do me any good to pull it out now because he still had this magnet gizmo with him as he came closer. I strike first, sending a kick straight into his stomach, all he did in response was bend over and then gathered himself up again. Like I said, he was strong. He swings, I duck. He swings again, I dive to the side. But his third punch catches me right in the face and I'm staggering ten yards away before I land on my back. As I see him coming at me again, I pull the mask off because I was spitting out blood and the mask was blocking it. I barely stand, uppercut him. He barely feels it. So I next kick him in the knee. I didn't break it, but this time it hurt him like hell. He drops to his knees and I grab his jaw and start slamming the back of his head into the wall like four or five times. I kick him in the head, knock him down. As he's still trying to get back up, I pull out the knife and send it into his neck. That was the end of him. After that, Chaves was the last person in the entire mansion left alive. I strangled him to death with my bare hands as he kept telling me he'd make me a rich man if I let him go".

"Damn", was the only thing Sonya could think of saying as Scott's twin still looked bored.

"Whomever came by from the Black Dragons to check the mansion out after I was gone must've seen my blood there and realized it didn't belong to any of the members. That's how the clone came in. They figured they could use somebody as talented as that. I got rid of the ninja outfit and all the gadgets after that, kept only the Beretta. I thought with Chaves and the alien gone that I wouldn't have to hear from those losers again, that my problems were over. Hell, the police were happy to see him dead, they didn't even _try_ to find me. But my problems with this goddamn organization were far from over because I soon got paid a visit from his son, who was the new head. Another shoot-out follows and his son ends up dead also. At the end of that, I just walked up to those idiots and told them that their problem wasn't with me, that only their leader's was, and now that he was dead, we could all just walk away, and they agreed".

"Did Kano and Benson take over then?", was her question, although she wasn't sure if he knew.

"I don't know whether they took over immediately then or afterwards, but they were the head when I heard from them again", he responded, "Years later, I'm in Hong Kong with the Special Forces and I had almost forgotten about the whole thing and I hear all of a sudden that one of our shipments was hijacked and some of our guys killed by the Black Dragon. Then comes the murder of Richards. I felt like they were following me, but they really weren't, it was only a coincidence".

"And the next thing I know, this lieutenant, the only woman in the entire base, decides to sacrifice a promising career to go after the current head", Scott continued, looking at her, "I was really glad to see you OK when you came back, but I felt lousy when I heard you got kicked out because of what you did. You had done practically what I had done years ago by killing the presiding head of this organization. The only difference was, I was a civilian when I did it so there was no official consequence for my actions, but you lost your career for yours. It just wasn't right. I just had to see for myself that I could help you out in any way possible and that's why I decided to come here for two weeks with you. Of course, after that, things took on a life of their own... You know, the main problem with doing something like that to Chaves and company, other than the obvious fact that you'll get killed, is that you might enjoy it too much. That's what led to Chaves's girlfriend's death and that's what my twin is based on. He's based on _that_ person, except maybe he's more intense".

"Well, Scotty, you could've told me that from day one", Sonya felt relieved, "You didn't have to hide that from me".

"Thanks...", he felt glad it was over.

"But you _still_ haven't told us how you found your way here", she turned her attention to Scott's clone in an almost accusing fashion, "Or what you're really doing here, for that matter".

"I told you", the double seemed annoyed that he had to repeat himself so many times in order to be believed, "I wanted to have some peace".

"Aha", it was obvious from her tone of voice that she didn't believe him, "Is that what you were thinking on the island when you had your hands wrapped around my throat?".

"That was different", the clone calmly explained, "I was a different person".

"It was just a short time ago!", she snapped at him, trying hard not to physically attack him again, "You expect me to believe that you changed your ways overnight?".

"It wasn't up to me alone", he tried to explain the events after he was taken off the island.

The clone debated shortly in his mind as to whether or not he should tell them about Rayden. In the end, he concluded that he might as well tell the whole truth, instead of only the parts that made sense.

"Rayden helped", he shot forth, "He... opened my eyes".

At the mention of the thunder god's name, Sonya's skepticism waned. The clone couldn't have known about Rayden since he was unconscious when the god carried him off the island. If Rayden had made himself visible to him, there must have been a good reason.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened between us on that island", Scott's twin continued, "Whether you believe me is up to you, but I'm telling you the truth. It's not like it's going to matter shortly anyway".

"What are you talking about?", Scott questioned.

"Clones can't be sustained by themselves, my gentle host", the clone addressed him, "They need a special injection of antitoxin on a regular basis to stay healthy. An antitoxin that only those Black Dragon scientists can give. Without it, my guess is that I'll be dead within a month".

"Well, you need to get some of that stuff then", Scott advised, "Right?".

"The only way I'll get more is if I go back to the organization", the clone told him, "And I am _not_ going back there".

"What?!", Scott shot forth, "What are you, suicidal?".

"No, but I've already made my peace. Don't intervene with my decision to go, please", the clone politely let him know.

Sonya was watching the conversation. It seemed to astonish her because the clone talked in exactly the same manner that Scott did, the only difference being that they were on opposing sides, or at least used to be.

"You wanna stay here?", Scott offered, respecting the clone's wishes and wanting to make his last days comfortable.

Sonya sharply stared at him as soon as his question was asked. She reasoned that it was her place and Scott had no right to make such a donation without her approval. As the thought raced through her mind in the space of a single second, Scott turned his face towards her even though he had no idea what she was pondering.

"That is, if it's OK with you, of course", he added as he locked eyes with her.

She gave a slight smile because she was glad he considered her feelings.

"I don't think so", the clone refused before she could say anything, "It's better that I go. I don't think the neighbors would appreciate a hitman moving in next door".

"Where're you gonna go, huh?", Scott wanted him to think about his words.

"I'll think of something. I always do", the clone reassured as he headed for the door, "You don't survive in my business without being creative. You think it's easy to allude an entire police force that's chasing a copkiller? It takes a renaissance spirit".

It took Scott and Sonya a split second to actually realize what he was talking about.

"What?", she pressed as the clone gripped the doorknob.

"Huh?", the clone turned his face to her, wondering what her question was.

"Did you just say a copkiller?", Scott repeated.

"Well, of course", the clone answered, surprised, "What do you think a Black Dragons assassin did? Donate chocolate chip cookies to orphanages for a living?".

"I think you better leave", Sonya coldly shot back.

"Wait a second, wait a second!", Scott interrupted, even though the idea of his clone being someone who took the life of a police officer made him think he was about to throw up.

The professionalism he saw in detective Olsen and the other officers was on his mind, but he tried to put it aside in favor of remembering that his clone had nowhere to go.

"Where are you gonna live?", he asked.

"Let him go, goddamn it!", Sonya snapped at him.

"Listen, Scott, you mind if I call you Scott?", Scott addressed the clone.

"Not at all", the clone calmly answered.

"Well, Scott, you mind waiting here while I talk to my sister for a minute in the kitchen?", Scott pointed towards the kitchen.

"Sure, go right ahead", the clone said.

"Please", Scott indicated the direction towards the kitchen, desiring to have a private conversation with Sonya there.

Sonya reluctantly walked towards the kitchen, not taking her eyes off the clone as she did. Scott followed her from a few feet away.

"You know, she doesn't look anything like you", the clone spoke up as he grimaced from the door.

"Oh, shut up", Scott replied as he reached the kitchen and closed the door behind him.

"I don't want him here!", Sonya aggressively aimed towards the closed kitchen door as soon as Scott was there.

"Listen, where else is he gonna go?", he tried to reason.

"I don't care! He's a copkiller! Do you know what that means?", she shot back.

"That could've been me out there", he answered, "He was based on the person that I was back when I attacked Chaves's mansion. He was made this way because of me. I can't just turn my back to him".

Sonya was quiet. Scott guessed she was probably calming down.

"Look", she proved him right because she answered in a softer tone, "You and I go way back, you know that. You're very important... But I can't have him here... I just can't".

"OK, I understand, but I also can't leave him alone. He only has a short time left to live and I at least owe this to him", he let her know.

There was a moment of silence, both realizing the other wouldn't give in.

"I'll move out if I have to. That's fine", he restarted, "I just have to make sure he finds a place to stay. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't".

Sonya didn't like what she was hearing. Scott proved to be as unyielding as she was when she really believed in something. Just then, the clone opened the door to the kitchen from the living room and addressed the original Scott.

"What the hell are you doing?", the twin interposed, "You're gonna move out so you can baby-sit me for a few days? What do you think am I? A kindergarten student?".

"I thought this was a private conversation", the original Scott rejoined, "Do ninjas usually eavesdrop?".

"I wasn't eavesdropping", his double defended himself, "You two are so loud, I'd be able to hear you if I was standing halfway across the state".

Scott sighed as Sonya crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at his twin with nothing but aggression in her eyes. She told herself that maybe he was here to make peace, but it was only because of him that she and Scott were arguing presently.

"Look, kid, I appreciate the sentiment, but you're not gonna sacrifice what you got here for me", the clone told Scott as he pointed behind him with his right thumb, "Thanks, but I'm outta here. And I'll be OK, so don't worry".

Sonya had to admit that the clone's actions were pretty selfless, probably the same kind of action that Scott would take upon himself if the roles had been reversed. She reasoned that if Scott had so much faith in this person, then she should too.

"Allright, goddamnit, maybe you can stay here for as long as you've got", she told him quickly because she was afraid she'd change her mind as she pointed her index finger at Scott, "But realize that I'm only doing this for him, not for you".

Her decision made Scott smile and she thought she even saw a sign of relief on the clone's facial expression.

"Well, that's good", the twin answered with a grin, "Because I had absolutely nowhere else to go".

Sonya walked out of the kitchen and into the living room just in time to see Johnny using his key to open the front door to let both himself and Liu in.

"Man!", Johnny exclaimed, his sunglasses still on, "This picture's going to blow every other so-called martial arts movie away! I can promise everybody that! Liu blew the producers away with the stunts he performed on top of mine and the stuntmen's".

"You were that good?", Sonya asked the monk who followed the actor inside.

"He's too generous with his flattery", Liu humbly told her, pointing to Johnny.

Both men saw Scott's clone at the same time because he was in front of the original Scott as they headed into the living room.

"Hey, Scott", Johnny spoke first, thinking out loud, "Have you been lifting some more weights than usual?".

"No, not really", the original Scott answered as he made himself more visible.

Both kombatants' expectedly eyes widened.

"Don't ask me, because I don't feel like explaining", Sonya held her palms out in front of her chest as she predicted their question.

"Somebody feel like filling us in here?", Johnny stared at both twins.

"It's your explanation, Scotty", she turned towards her bedroom, "I'm going to bed".

She headed into her bedroom, knowing she wouldn't get much sleep that night. Changed personality or no, the fact still remained that there was a Black Dragons assassin living in her home and she'd have to be extremely careful. She closed the bedroom door behind her as she could still hear Scott explaining what had happened during the last few hours. She didn't trust the clone at all, so she had gone against her instincts by allowing him to stay. As long as he was living under the same roof, it would mean that she wouldn't be able to be comfortable in her own residence. She knew it was wrong that she had to live in such a way but she decided to endure the discomfort that seemed to twist her stomach into a knot. All she had to do was make sure Scott didn't see how much she hated the idea of having the latest guest in her home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Liu was sound asleep on the couch just a few minutes before the sun was about to rise. He was dreaming, although he didn't know it then. He clearly saw Princess Kitana although he couldn't identify her surroundings. He reasoned that it was Outworld, because despite the tournament, he and his fellow kombatants still only spent a relatively short amount of time there.

Liu's thoughts had been with the princess a lot ever since their fight in the original tournament where she notified him of the method which he would later use to kill Sub-zero. He'd been busy with his attempt at making amends with the White Lotus society when he first returned from the tournament. He then flew to the United States in a hurry because one of his friends was distraught since she believed Goro's specter was back for revenge. After a series of adventures with his fellow kombatants, he was now taking Johnny's next martial arts movie to new heights. Although all those events were worthwhile and enlightening, Liu had realized that if he hadn't been so occupied, he'd have to admit to himself that he missed Kitana's company.

In the dream, Kitana was standing in an open desert which supported a purple sky. She could feel evil approaching, although could see nothing at the moment. Her instincts about the danger soon took the form of a noise. A dull noise steadily approached her and she couldn't see from which direction even though she warily turned around repeatedly. The dull noise soon became clearer as Kitana realized it was actually someone's, or something's, footsteps. With the advancing footsteps getting louder, a frightened Princess Kitana finally stopped rotating in place in her efforts to try to see it. She stared ahead at Liu.

"Liu!", she called as she outstretched both open hands towards him, "Help us!!".

The footsteps became even louder. A monster was approaching Kitana. Liu couldn't see it, he couldn't even tell where it was, but he felt that something corrupt was nearing her with every second that passed. It was something new, something that neither he nor any of his fellow kombatants had ever seen before. Liu screamed out the princess's name.

"KITANAA", he opened his eyes and sat up at the same time, realizing he was awake.

Only the silence of the living room and the loud beating of his heart answered him.

Liu looked around as morning light tried to fight its way into the living room through the window. The window was still covered with a clear plastic cover because no one had gotten around to fixing it after Sonya had jumped through it after the last Black Dragons hitman had fired at her. Despite the silence, though, Liu soon realized that he wasn't alone. The clone was sound asleep on a mat on the floor, but the original Scott was wide awake as he emerged from the kitchen holding a half-eaten sandwich. He had obviously heard the monk wake up.

"You OK, Liu?", Scott slowly walked towards him, being careful so not to wake his clone or Sonya.

"Yes, thank you", Liu responded although he could still hear his heart pounding in his chest.

"Who's Tanaka?", Scott next asked, looking confused.

"Kitana", Liu corrected him.

"Kitana", Scott repeated.

"She was someone...", Liu picked his words carefully, "Someone we met on Shang Tsung's island during the tournament. She was the princess of the Outworld, and her help proved to be invaluable to us".

"Did you just dream about this lady?", was the next question.

"Yes", the monk never lied.

"Do you miss her?", Scott grinned.

Liu was amazed at how efficiently Scott could read his mind, but he didn't answer.

"Look, Liu", Scott decided to give some advice even though he wasn't asked to, "If you miss her, then give her a call".

"Give her a call?", Liu repeated incredulously, "I don't believe the realm of Outworld even _has_ telephones".

"Well then, there has got to be some other way, right?".

"That is not how it works", Liu tried to convince himself more than Scott, "Princess Kitana has her responsibilities, as do I".

"Well, we all have responsibilities, Liu, but come on! You're young, she's young, you gotta do something about that. Life is more than just a job full of responsibilities, right?".

"She is not as young as you say", the monk corrected him again, although appreciating his liberal insight.

"Huh?", was Scott's only reaction.

"She's ten thousand years old", Liu continued.

"What?!", was the expected answer, "Wooo... She's a little _old_ for you, ain't she, Liu?".

Scott's last remark actually make Liu smile.

Sonya opened the door of her bedroom and stepped out, her eyes still sleepy and trying hard to walk straight as she was still in last night's shorts and T-shirt.

"Hey, what're you doing up so early?", Scott asked.

"Boss wants me to be in at the opening of the store today", she barely glanced at anyone as she staggered towards the bathroom to wash her face with cold water.

"But the store doesn't open until eight in the morning", Scott was perplexed.

"Well, some of us have to work out _and_ go to our jobs. We're not all unemployed", she answered him.

Scott didn't know whether it was just the sleepiness that caused that kind of answer or that he had done something wrong between last night and this morning. He stared at Liu as Sonya was in the bathroom splashing handfuls of cold water on her face. She soon came out while she dried her face with a towel. Her next action was to grab a pair sneakers and a gym bag.

"I'm going to catch a workout at the gym. I got my change of clothes in the bag", she told whomever was interested, "I'll get something to eat at work".

After quickly putting the sneakers on, she was on her way outside.

"Uh, sis?", Scott decided to take his chances and interrupt, "Are you angry at something?".

Sonya already had the door open with her back to him when she stopped briefly.

"Yeah", she whispered.

"At me?", he added.

She turned around, somewhat pleased that he asked.

"No", she smiled, "Not you".

With that, she was out and closed the door behind her.

"I have to go as well", Liu blurted out as he jumped off the couch.

"Where to?", Scott questioned, feeling as if he was being abandoned.

"I need to see Johnny at his hotel", the monk told him as he rushed for the door as well.

"Are you gonna discuss the movie with him?", Scott went on.

Liu wished he could've lied at that point. It would've been easy to simply say 'yes', but White Lotus members were not allowed to tell a lie under any conditions. It was that kind of respect for the truth and discipline that made the members who they were.

"No, I am not", the monk responded, hoping that Scott wouldn't ask what he planned to talk about.

"Then what?", Scott disappointed him.

Liu stood erect and faced him from across the living room, feeling somewhat annoyed.

"I am going to him to discuss my dream about Princess Kitana", he frankly informed the ex-commando.

With that, Liu was out the door also.

Scott felt like he had been awake since forever since he was watching the news on the television set by the time the clone finally woke up. He lowered the volume because he still had not fully accepted the fact that his twin was willing to sit back and wait to die without trying harder to stay alive.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I am _not_ going back there!", the clone pressed, "I don't care if it will mean my death. Besides, dying is the only way I can ever make up for my past actions".

"Dying is not the answer!", Scott shot back, "What do you think this is? Some story that romanticizes suicide?".

"I don't expect you to understand", his twin calmly told him, "But let's talk about something else".

Scott sighed, realizing he didn't understand his clone's apparent close-mindedness.

"Is there anything I can do?", he asked, expecting to hear a negative answer.

"Actually, yes", the twin surprised him, "Do you listen to heavy metal?".

"What?", Scott clarified, "Heavy metal? As in heavy metal music?".

"Yes. Do you listen to it?".

"Well, no".

"Well, I do", the clone let him know, "The only way I train is with the music on. Can you get me a cassette?".

Scott only stared back.

"I wouldn't ordinarily ask, but I'm a _little_ short on income presently", the clone added.

"I can do that", Scott told him, "But you have to do something for me in return".

"What's that?".

"You have to try extra hard to come to terms with the lady in this household. Can you do that?".

"I can try", the former ninja promised, "The blonde _is_ something else. I can see why you're so fond of her".

"Really?", Scott doubted that he did.

"On the island, there was, how you say, a certain attraction felt towards the blonde by me", the clone went on, "I felt sorry for her when Crane pushed her off the edge. When one of the other assassins was shot, I knew we were outnumbered and was running back to the boat to signal for help. I bet she thinks I was trying to escape. I wasn't".

Scott only listened as the clone stopped briefly.

"When I saw her standing between the boat and myself, part of me was actually glad she was alive", he said, "But another part of me wanted to tear her apart in the most sadistic way possible. Having her challenge me was all the provocation I needed... She's a real piece of work. But as for your sister, I still don't see the resemblance".

"Not my _biological_ sister, stupid", Scott told him, almost playfully.

"Oh...", was the clone's only reaction as he thought some more, "You don't fight, do you, host?".

"No, I stopped when I got shot".

"When?", the twin asked next.

"During our counterstrike against the militants who hit the House of Representatives", Scott recalled, "Got hit once in the stomach and once in the hip. It's a miracle I was actually able to even walk after that".

Just then, a masked hood appeared on the television screen where moments earlier was the news anchorman. Surprised, Scott increased the volume to comprehend what was going on.

"...score one for anarchy!", the hooded man recited with a passion, "Declare war on the police and society in general! This is coming from the Black Dragons, destroy all who are not like us!".

"What the hell is this??", Scott asked his clone, who seemed just as stupefied.

He tried to change the channel, but the hooded face was overriding the signal from every station, repeating the same statement over and over again.

"You have got to be kidding me", neither man could understand what was happening.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Detective Olsen and patrolman Peters were still discussing the strange reception they received so distastefully from their television sets as they were eating inside Peters' patrol car. Olsen was seated in the front passenger seat as he talked to the patrolman behind the wheel.

"I swear to God", the detective angrily told the patrolman, "Just when I think I've seen it all, some jackass comes up with a new way to piss me off".

He didn't feel much like eating, but he knew he would have to keep up with his daily caloric requirements if he insisted on being as active as he was.

"It's probably just some idiot looking for his fifteen minutes of fame", Peters smiled, "Don't let him get to you. Believe me, we'll be seeing him on a talk show soon enough".

As Olsen reached into his paper bag to withdraw a sandwich, he heard what sounded like firecrackers from a short distance away. His extensive experience in the police force told him those supposed firecrackers were actually gunshots and the bulletholes in the windshield of the patrol vehicle told him the bullets were aimed at them. Three rounds had pierced the windshield and found their mark into the seat between him and Peters.

Both men quickly withdrew their service pistols as Peters grabbed the microphone and sent a distress call that officers were under fire. The dozen or so men about half a block ahead were clearly responsible for the shots that were fired since some of them withdrew weapons and were headed towards the car.

"FREEZE! YOU'RE ALL UNDER ARREST!!", Olsen screamed as he opened the side door and jumped out, his weapon at the ready.

Peters followed his actions soon after, seeing that the men were not about to lower their weapons. The small mob was certainly not impressed by their status as officers of the law. All the men fired at once, most with handguns, some with a shotgun. Olsen fired twice and hit one individual in the chest as bullets tore into the car. The young detective smoothly fired a third round into a second man's right thigh before a double-barreled shotgun which fired from the opposite side found its mark in his chest. The shot would've torn him apart had it not been for his usual habit of wearing a bulletproof vest. The impact hurled him backwards as he hit the ground hard and lost the grip on his weapon.

Olsen tried hard to stand back up in order to reach his weapon, but his concentration was cut short when he heard Peters yell out. Peters had also been hit. Although the patrolman also wore a vest and survived the shot, the small mob approached him as it left the detective alone. As two men in the mob disarmed Peters, a third man held a handgun about two feet away from the patrolman's head and pulled the trigger, killing him instantly.

Olsen heard himself screaming in anger and trying to reach for his weapon once more, but it was several feet out of his reach. The mob next gladly turned its attention towards him. It would've been his death, but the sirens of an approaching police car dispersed the group before they could execute the detective the same way they had the patrolman. As he saw the men running away and heard the sirens getting closer, he tried to stay awake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"There was something else", Liu tried to put the feelings he remembered from his dream into words as Johnny keenly listened, "Something new".

"How do you know?", the actor asked the obvious question as they both paced the floor of his hotel suite.

"I felt it", the monk responded, knowing it wasn't much of an answer.

"Maybe you're just remembering Goro", Johnny tried to make sense, "Maybe since Goro tried to come after us, some part of your subconscious was previously worried that he might've hurt Kitana after he killed all of us".

"No, no", Liu shook his head, "It was not that. This was a new threat".

"You gotta admit, we don't have much to base it on, Liu", his friend rationalized.

"Perhaps not, but I know what I felt", the monk felt distressed, detesting the fact that he couldn't explain his own attitude.

Liu might not have been able to describe his dream to Johnny, but he at least knew who could.

"Rayden helped us before, when Crane's men were trying to unbalance the dimensions by using Shang Tsung's island", the White Lotus member told Johnny, "How can one contact him? If there is a problem here, _he_ could make it clear for us".

"Yeah, but _he_ always found _us_ before, not the other way around", his fellow kombatant reminded him, "How are we supposed to find him?".

A bolt of electricity appeared in the middle of the room out of nowhere because there were no open windows. The thunder god soon took the shape that the kombatants found familiar by now.

"You need only ask", Rayden smiled.

"Great, it's better than the express service at the post office", Johnny smirked as Liu looked relieved.

"Talk to me, man", the actor addressed the thunder god first, "Do you know what's going on here?".

"Yes", Rayden bowed slightly, "Liu is correct, there _is_ a new threat in the Outworld, one that is endangering Princess Kitana and all the other Outworlders".

"What is it?", Liu demanded, agitated now that he knew for sure.

"I wish I could tell you, but the truth is, I do not know myself", Rayden looked apologetic, "Remember, I cannot venture into the realm of Outworld".

"Can _we_ still?", Liu impatiently pressed.

"Yes, but I should remind you that this not your fight. You _can_ stay away", the thunder god had to warn them, although he perceived that they would go ahead and visit Outworld anyway, "Also, time in Outworld passes at an unpredictable rate when compared to time in the Earth realm. You should be told that so you are not surprised if an inconsistency appears when you return".

"Kitana could've stayed away when we were dragged to the tournament", Johnny said out loud what Liu was thinking.

"Very well, when do you wish to go?", Rayden next asked.

"Let me cancel my shoot", the actor withdrew a cellular phone and dialed some numbers.

He was finished and ready for the journey after speaking to his agent for less than half a minute.

"What do you think? Should we call Sonya?", Liu inquired.

Johnny thought about the idea for a short while, weighing the benefits and consequences as Rayden patiently waited.

"You know what?", Johnny advised, "Not now. She barely got this job as it is. There's no point in us screwing it for her when we don't even know what we're going up against. Let her ride through this one. If things get rough, we can always come back for her, right, Rayden?".

The thunder god slightly bowed his head in agreement.

"I will be watching you from afar", Rayden advised, "When you wish to return, just give the word. I will teleport you back to the Earth realm".

Both men were soon surrounded by Rayden's electricity and when it vanished, the thunder god and Johnny's hotel room were nowhere to be seen. They were in Outworld.

"Allright, here we go again", Johnny commented to himself before freezing, "Oh, great!".

"What is it?", Liu turned to him, thinking he saw something.

"I forgot my sunglasses!", the actor complained.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Johnny and Liu were naturally cautious as they made their way through Outworld. The purplish sky made everything looked dreary, Johnny thought to himself, but it was possible that Earth dwellers and Outworlders had a different definition of beauty. He hated being in this place when they had to follow Sonya and Shang Tsung during the original tournament and his feelings hadn't changed with time. There was somewhat more light now than there was back then as they passed the countless number of hideous gargoyles that lined up on either side of the passageway. Perhaps it was daytime.

The actor felt that the White Lotus monk suddenly became tense. Liu had spotted movement. He turned towards the same direction that Liu was looking, both men in their fighting stance. They relaxed as they saw Princess Kitana's figure emerging from behind the gargoyle that was about twenty yards away. She was dressed in the same kind of sleeveless leather attire and tight pants that the kombatants remembered from the original tournament.

"Liu?", she asked as she approached them, surprised.

"Princess", the monk answered with a bow.

"What are you two doing here?", she wondered out loud as she came closer.

"I heard your cry for help", Liu explained, "In a dream".

"Amazing", was her answer.

"And I'm just here for moral support", Johnny added, "Don't mind me".

"Not at all", Kitana laughed, feeling relieved, "Thank you. We _are_ in need of your help. I just did not think you would be interested now that Earth was not in jeopardy".

Liu guessed it was her first laugh in a long time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I had been attempting to organize the remaining survivors in my homeland", Kitana explained to the steadfast kombatants, trying to make a long story short, "We _were_ making progress towards growing food and trying to purify the water in order to make it drinkable again. But that was before the reception".

"What reception?", the monk questioned.

"Mutants began pursuing us for a few weeks now", the princess went on, feeling disgusted, "These seven-foot tall creatures made it their mission to decimate us".

"Why? What the hell would they have to gain by it?", Johnny asked himself.

"I do not know", Kitana had to admit, "All I _do_ know is that almost half of us are gone because of them. Either impaled by their conscienceless blades or just vanished without a trace only to be discovered as a corpse later. Most of us who are left have been forced to simply seek shelter in one of the thousand caves in Outworld, fearing for life".

Both men locked eyes, absorbing the information in their own way.

"There's more", Kitana added, "They are well organized presently. In the past, they had been scattered and our biggest worries were only random, unplanned and easily revoked attacks. But their actions are planned now, with purpose. I am convinced that they have a leader. The name I kept hearing from them is 'Qarro'. It's as if this leader is guiding them".

Johnny found Liu's premonition of someone or something new more believable.

"Who is it? Who's Qarro?", Liu pressed, eager to know.

"I have never seen this new leader", the princess had to reply, "I do not know".

Liu wasn't content with her answer, since it told them nothing new. They were back to where they had started, facing an unknown enemy.

"I have spied upon a gathering that the mutants regularly hold near here. That is where I have heard Qarro's name being called", Kitana gave them something new after all, "They meet every few days, but as to their leader, he or she or it is never present".

"Show us where it is", Liu quickly said what Johnny was thinking.

Johnny and Liu examined the area that Princess Kitana had pointed out. If they hadn't been directed to it, both kombatants would've passed without paying much attention to it. It was a flat, naturally round rock formation with a diameter of about a hundred yards. There were no indications of any past activities, though, such as shrines or any other physical objects that might indicate what the mutants were using this place for.

"I'm assuming these guys look like Baraka from the second tournament", Johnny addressed Kitana, "Am I right?".

"Absolutely", was her simple response as she surveyed the surrounding plains.

Mutants have been known to loiter around this natural circle in the ground, and she wanted to make sure none of them caught her or the two visitors by surprise.

"Great, just great", the actor commented to himself, missing his sunglasses, "Just what I need. Another round with some seven-foot tall weirdo with knives coming out of his hands".

"They are all defeatable", Liu tried to encourage him, "Their raw strength and brutality can never be a match for our peace of mind and discipline".

"Nicely put", Johnny remarked.

"This place looked friendlier the moment you two visited it", Kitana smiled at them both, her eyes still on the surrounding hillsides.

"I wish the producers in Earth were as glad to see me", Johnny told no one in particular as he stared at Liu, "So, what do we plan to do here? We can't just sit here and hope to run into this Qarro character, right? We have to find a way to lure him out to us".

"That is reasonable", Liu agreed.

"But lure him, or it, how?", Kitana posed the question that was on all their minds.

"Perhaps luring is too complicated", Liu advised, "Luring would hint this new leader was intellectually deficient. He, or it, obviously has not come this far by being stupid. We might have an easier time _provoking_ him towards us".

"Provoking him? How?", Johnny asked.

"He guides the mutants, correct?", Liu smiled, "If one wished to provoke the general of an army into a trap, all one needs to do is harm his precious killing machine".

It took Johnny a second to realize that the precious killing machine referred to in this time were the mutants.

"Wooho! Hold on!", he exclaimed when he understood, holding out his right palm, "Fighting those weirdoes when they attack is one thing. But _us_ going to _them_ for a fight? In _their_ space?".

"Is there a better idea?", Liu asked.

"Yeah, we can go back to Earth, get Sonya's entire Special Forces unit, arm them to the teeth and come back then", he replied, knowing well that his version was impossible.

"Finding a mutant detachment out here should not be too hard", the monk commented as he stared off towards the surrounding hills.

"I _do_ wish to come with you", Kitana told him, not wanting him to get any chivalrous ideas in his head.

"Of course", Liu smiled.

As Princess Kitana was about twenty yards away, and thus probably out of the hearing range of a whisper, Liu walked up to Johnny and placed his right palm on the actor's upper back.

"You do not have to come if you do not wish it", the White Lotus member whispered, "You owe nothing to me, and whatever we owed to Princess Kitana from the first tournament has already been paid in full. I do not want you to feel pressured into joining us for I'm only doing this for my own personal reasons".

"Please, Liu, I ain't leaving you two", the actor pleased him, "Besides, I'll pick fighting a mutant over facing my next producer any day. At least the mutant doesn't bite too often".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The six mutants were on patrol as they combed the hillside for survivors, just like Qarro had ordered them to. They knew there were still many Outworlders left, even after the massive hunt and slaughter that had taken place within the last several weeks. Their scout had been relatively dull so far, with no new potential victims encountered. As they found themselves wishing they could find new live persons to dismember, one of the mutants finally spotted movement to the right.

All six mutants quickly turned a sharp right and warily, but excitedly, approached the area pointed to by the one who had detected the motion. To their delight, they saw a silhouetted figure approaching them from about forty yards away. This person didn't even make an effort to hide, a fact which would've bothered the mutants if they had more intelligence. But they didn't, so each rushed forth with arms bent at the elbow and a three-foot long blade attached to each hand. They stopped cold when they realized who the person was. Their delight grew as they realized their potential victim was Princess Kitana herself, the leader of the Outworlders. Qarro would have been extremely pleased at the kill.

"I am ordering you to desist!", Kitana angrily pointed at the group from only a handful of yards away.

Before any of them could react, all six were ambushed. Liu and Johnny had been waiting for a diversion to carry out an offensive, even though they could see that every mutant was easily a foot taller than them.

"Don't give up your day job, weirdo", Johnny commented as he leapt from behind the group and attacked the mutant at the farthest left.

The actor jumped up and forward before the mutant was able to turn around and grabbed his neck. His leap forward carried the mutant's body along with its momentum and the surprised mutant fell forward as the actor lifted his legs and stomach upwards and ahead of the rest of his body. Johnny also pushed the mutant's head forward as he saw the ground approaching. The mutant's forehead crashed into the ground a fraction of a second before the actor's lower back did, thus softening the impact for him. He sprang back up to his feet as the large mutant stayed immobile on the ground.

From four yards away, Liu flew into the air towards the mutant at the farthest right and also positioned his legs ahead of the rest of his body in midair. He quickly drilled both his feet into the mutant's chest about a dozen times as the mutant was pushed back with each kick that the monk delivered. Liu followed the victim as that one stepped back and kept kicking into the chest before his energy ran out after a few seconds and he was forced to come back down on his feet. Once back on the ground, the White Lotus member next jumped straight up and kicked out horizontally with both legs, his feet slamming into the dazed mutant's chest simultaneously. The mutant was knocked backwards, fell down and didn't get back up.

"Come on!", Kitana called aloud as she switched into her fighting stance and saw two of the mutants running straight at her.

The deaths of her friends and all the good people who had been murdered by the mutants cried out for vengeance and she could hear them.

Johnny, in his turn, pulled his body back as a mutant swung the right blade at him. The actor saw the blade pass through air in front of him and firmly grabbed the swinging arm of his attacker. He delivered a kick to the side of the mutant's knee and next sent his right knee into that one's stomach. With his captive mutant temporarily dazed, Johnny saw another mutant charging at him from behind. He quickly moved aside and twisted as far around as he could in order to face the mutant behind him. As that one closed in, Johnny thrust the right arm of the mutant that he still held forward. The blade of the restrained mutant's arm impaled the charging mutant as that one ran right into it. The impaled mutant cried out in pain as the bloody blade exited out of his lower back. As Johnny pulled the captive mutant's arm back, the blade was pulled out of the impaled one's stomach and that one dropped towards the ground dying. Johnny next released the restrained mutant's arm as that one came out of his daze only to see the actor's elbow coming right at his face. The mutant staggered back with a scream as the kombatant executed a shadow kick. The mutant saw him as he seemed to glide on his left foot as his right leg was aimed up high. The bottom of Johnny's foot impacted into the mutant's chest and knocked him out instantly.

As Johnny was vanquishing his third mutant, Liu ran towards the last two as they were coming at Kitana. He delivered a flying kick that slammed into the back of one of the two and that one was thrust forward as his face met the unforgiving ground. Liu came down on his feet as the mutant slammed into the ground. While his opponent was on hands and knees, trying to get back up, the monk kicked him in the chin and the mutant's head pointed sharply upwards. Liu next delivered a sharp punch into the back of the head and the mutant dropped flat on the ground without being able to stand back up.

As he did that, the last mutant reached Kitana only to have her grab his left blade. She had to be extremely careful to hold the blade on the flat sides without touching the razorlike edges. With the blade firmly in her grip, she twisted around and flattened her back against the mutant's stomach as that one was surprised. Before her opponent got a chance to use the right blade against her, she lifted the left blade, and with it his arm, over her head and pulled it forward as she lowered her upper body. The much larger mutant flew over her back and landed horizontally on his own back on the ground, staring up at the purple sky. Kitana stepped towards her adversary and brought her right foot down into his teeth with all her strength. The mutant was more annoyed than hurt as he grabbed her ankle and tossed her off. Kitana's body was thrust upwards and back, but she controlled the flow of energy because she turned upside down on her hands as her lower body passed overhead. Her legs swung in a semicircle because of the mutant's strong push and her feet landed behind her hands. Once feeling the ground with her feet, she gracefully concentrated her weight on them and stood up straight again.

The mutant was on his feet at the same time that she was, grinning wildly and displaying sharp teeth. Kitana rushed forward and delivered a left front kick into his chest. The mutant took a single step backwards as he looked for a chance to attack. He didn't get it because she next twisted to her left and sent her right foot into his stomach, forcing him to bend over but failing to knock the wind out of him. Before her opponent could stand up straight, Kitana sent a second high left front kick into his face, sending him several steps back.

As the mutant gathered his concentration, he stared ahead to see all five of his associates either dead or unconscious as Johnny and Liu calmly neared Kitana from behind. If the woman alone put up a fight, he knew he stood no chance against all three, so he took a careful step back.

"Go back to your leader Qarro and take a message", Liu angrily barked, "Tell them we are here. If he does not like what we just did, we will be here waiting for him. And if he does not show himself, we will continue this type of activity from now until he does!".

The terrified mutant took another step backwards.

"UNDERSTOOD?", the White Lotus monk yelled.

The mutant turned away from them and ran as fast as he possibly could.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'", Johnny grinned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya walked towards her home when her shift at the store was finally over after eight hours. As she was still outside and about five yards away from the door, she heard a blaring heavy metal music originating from inside. Confused, she used her key and opened the door, the music becoming infinitely louder as she did. She followed the source towards the back of her home. She walked through the living room and reached the closed door of the room where she kept her workout equipment. Opening that door, she almost felt as if the sheer volume of the music could pin her against the wall.

In the room, she saw that her portable stereo had been moved from her bedroom into this one and the volume level was placed on ten, the maximum, as a heavy metal tape played in it. The clone was dressed in his host's clothes and he danced along with the rhythm of the wild music, punching and kicking her eighty-pound punching bag. He was so concentrated on his attacks on the bag that he didn't even notice her coming in. Sonya, on the other hand, noticed his impressive endurance as every punch or kick he speedily delivered seemed to devastate the bag. She had seen strength before, mainly from her or some guys that she saw training, but the clone's abilities were something more.

The destructive attacks on the punching bag lasted a full four more minutes as Sonya kept watching without being noticed. She never took her eyes off the clone, feeling expectedly impressed. She could only guess how much time he had spent crashing his fists and feet into the bag before she came in. But the clone finally ceased his majestic strikes and grabbed the large punching bag in order to stop it from swinging violently. He then saw her standing at the entrance as he walked over to the stereo to shut it off.

"Oh, hi", he smiled as he pressed a button and the loud music suddenly stopped, "I hope you don't mind that I borrowed your tape player".

"Not at all", she shook her head with a blank expression on her face, still not having gotten over the destruction he was able to deliver.

Scott walked in from behind her, so she guessed he was probably in the kitchen while she came home.

"You're done?", he asked the clone before seeing her, "Oh, hey! You're back. When did you get in?".

"Just now", she flatly told him.

"He wanted your stereo to work out with", Scott explained, pointing at his double, "He never works out without his music".

"So I can see", she said.

"So how was your day?", Scott asked as his clone unplugged the portable stereo.

"Tiring", she bluntly responded, "And I ain't done yet. I _still_ have another errand to run before I can relax".

"Well, that doesn't sound right", he answered, "Where do you have to go?".

"Daddy wanted me to pick up some malt liquor for him for when he comes back tomorrow morning from wherever the hell he is", she informed him.

"Wait a sec, what the hell? Doesn't he know you're _already_ working?", Scott couldn't understand.

"He asked me for it four days ago", she explained, "I've just been putting it off".

"I can go, you stay here", her brother, kind as ever in her eyes, offered.

"You're sure?", she didn't want to pressure him.

"Definitely. Where do you pick it up from, this malt liquor?".

"It's the bar that's a couple of blocks north from here", she pointed, although he understood the direction instantly.

"I'll be back, you just stay here and relax", Scott told her as he turned and headed for the door.

"Thanks", she realized this was the first good thing that happened all day long.

"Don't mention it", Scott turned around as he was leaving and locked eyes with his clone; obviously telling him something nonverbally, Sonya realized, although she didn't know what.

After Scott walked out of the door and closed it behind him, the clone approached her from the workout room. She noticed he wasn't even sweating after that long physical exercise. It was comfortably cool inside, but he should've been at least sweating after such a grueling practice.

"What would you like for dinner?", he politely asked.

"Huh?", his question caught her off-guard.

"What would you like for dinner?", he repeated.

"Why? You're cooking?", she asked him back.

"Yes", he told her, "As long as you're the one with the job, we should make things easier for you. Just mention what you'd like".

Scott must've done a really good job communicating with the clone, she told herself and smiled.

"Scott put you up to this, didn't he?", she asked.

"He had a hand in it", the clone admitted, "Not that I'm surprised".

"How so?".

"He didn't turn out like me", the twin said, "I could see it in his eyes when we first met. It might as well be like that".

XXXXXXXXXXX

Over in the crowded bar, Scott was waiting to talk to the bartender to ask him how much a bottle of malt liquor cost. Apparently, this bar actually let customers buy an entire bottle, he reasoned. As the bartender was about to turn his attention to him, Scott heard a loud argument from an area deeper in the bar. Shifting his gaze towards the root of the noise, he saw a big, stocky man pushing a smaller man backwards. The smaller man fell on his back and tried to stagger away, but the bigger man kicked him as that one was still on the floor. The kick must've hurt, Scott reasoned. Everyone else dispersed from the area as quickly as possible and looked away. Scott didn't. He couldn't.

Instead of asking for the bottle from the bartender, he walked towards the bigger man as that one was busy trying to kick the downed, smaller man for a second time. Scott knew he would have to be nice because his old bullet wound would not allow him to get involved in a physical confrontation.

"Excuse me", he spoke up and got the aggressor's attention, "I'm gonna have to ask you to stop that".

The man couldn't believe his ears.

"What, you want some of this too?", he asked, wanting the intruder to just leave.

"Look, you're obviously a much stronger person, so this hardly seems like a fair fight, you know what I'm saying?", Scott tried to smile but failed.

"GET LOST!!", the man stopped trying to attack his victim, which was good, but came charging at Scott instead, which wasn't.

Scott saw the man's right fist coming straight at his face. He instinctively used his left forearm to try to block the punch and succeeded. Unfortunately, as he did so, the remnants of the bullet that were left in his stomach after the initial surgery felt like an animal that was eating its way out of him. He screamed in pain, pressed his right forearm into his stomach and held on to the bar with his left hand for balance. The smaller man who was being bullied didn't know what was going on, but took advantage of the situation to get out of there. Still in pain and slightly bent over, unable to move, Scott looked up and saw the man raising a chair over his head, ready to bring it down on him.

"Don't...!", was the only word Scott was allowed.

The legs of the chair crashed on his back and knocked him down on his hands and knees, multiplying the pain in his stomach threefold. Scott saw double when he first looked straight ahead and then up. A deafening whistle overtook his ears as the only thing he could see was the bully who was exploiting the bullet wound that he had suffered.

Fortunately, the next sight he viewed was friendlier. Since he was still seeing double, he noticed two Sonyas coming into the bar and seeing both him and the bully. He still couldn't hear what she said, but she seemed to be pointing angrily at the man who had attacked him. The man walked away from him and moved threateningly towards her as the majority of the people in the bar had already run out. Scott wished he could help her out, but the enduring whistle in his ears and the pain in his stomach wouldn't even allow him to stand up on his own.

The next thing he saw were two Sonyas delivering an uppercut and two bullies staggering backwards before the two Sonyas sent a front kick into the bullies' stomach. That sent the two bullies down on the floor as the two Sonyas walked over to Scott and squatted down next to him at his right. The hearing slowly returned to his ears as the whistling waned while Sonya wrapped her left arm around his upper back and helped him stand up. He told himself that everything would be allright as he groaned. He wished the pain in his stomach would go away along with the deafening whistle in his ears.

"Why did you follow me?", Scott asked her as they were almost home, with the pain in his stomach just about gone and his vision back to normal, "Not that I'm not glad. Believe me, I am".

"I had just remembered that daddy wanted _two_ bottles of the liquor instead of one", she let him know, "It came to me just a minute after you left".

"Sorry you didn't get the liquor", he added.

"Come on", she smiled, "I'm sure daddy will understand. Besides, once he sees the new and improved clone, he'll have to. Nice job you did trying to make him more sensitive, by the way. He's in there as we speak trying to make me a steak sandwich".

"It's only fair. You deserve it", he flattered her as she opened the door and walked in.

The clone greeted them both as he held a large plate with a palatable steak sandwich on it.

"It's about time, I was starting to think you abandoned me", he proudly showed her the dish, "Where's the liquor?".

"Uh, we had a change of plans", Sonya waved her right hand back, "We'll get it some other time".

"Try it", the clone offered the plate.

Sonya reluctantly took a bite of the sandwich. Her eyes soon widened with surprise as she stared at both guys.

"This is delicious!", she sounded shocked, "Where did you learn how to cook?".

"I didn't", the clone proudly answered.

"I have _got_ to put some sauce on this", she almost raced to the kitchen with the sandwich.

"What happened? You look down", the clone stared at his host.

"Nothing", Scott sighed since he didn't feel like talking about his experience in the bar, he thus changed the subject, "Hey, where's Liu? He's been gone all day long".

"I wouldn't know", the clone admitted as he turned and headed back towards the workout room, "Your guess is as good as mine".

Scott picked up the phone and began dialing the number to Johnny's room, hoping Liu was still with the actor. As he started counting the rings, wondering why no one was picking the phone up on the other end, he didn't notice Sonya following the clone from the kitchen into the exercise room.

"Scott!! SCOOOTT!!", was the next thing he heard her yelling out.

He hastily dropped the phone and rushed into the room himself, worried about what could've caused her to scream in such a way. He soon found out because his clone was lying on the floor on his back, with the surface of his entire body breaking up as cracks of blood appeared all over his skin in the area not covered by clothes. His twin was decomposing in front of his eyes.

"He was just like this!", Sonya told him, squatting behind the clone and holding his head up in her hands although she doubted it did any good, "He kept asking me to get you. I don't know what's going on".

"What's going on, man?", Scott pressed, squatting next to his twin, "Talk to me!".

"I must've... must've underessstimated the...", the clone hissed in pain, "..power of the antitoxin I.... needed... Breakdown is earlier thaan I expected".

"Is there anything we can do?", Sonya heard herself asking.

The clone just shook his head in response. Both Scott and Sonya looked at each other, realizing they were only helpless witnesses to his death.

"Lisssten", the twin hissed again, addressing Scott, "I saw you... I know... what you want.... I can give you ssssomething no one else can... You can have my frame... Assuming you want it".

"Huh?", Scott was not following his words.

"You and I are the sssame", the clone tried to explain fast as he knew his time was limited, "I am dead no matter what... But I... can transssfer myself on to you... Give you my own body".

"You serious?", Scott began suspecting the clone was getting delirious.

"Yesss", the twin replied before his chest shot upward and he tightened his teeth together to brace for the pain, "But there iss a price... You will get my body _and_ my memories... And I never did anything good in my time... You must be warned of that".

Scott looked at Sonya again. This was what seemed like his only chance to actually go back to being like he was before, maybe even better.

"It's your choice, bro", she didn't help, as she couldn't, "This one's up to you".

Scott only took a few seconds to consider his options and decided quickly.

"What the hell, do it", he braced himself for whatever was about to follow.

"Walk into me", the clone whispered, running out of energy.

Unsure of how to act, Scott carefully moved himself closer to his clone until he touched him with his right hand. Scott's hand did not stop there because it soon went into the clone's skin itself. The clone's body instinctively rushed upwards and towards him and engulfed Scott's. The clone's clothes remained on the floor in front of Sonya and his body vanished into Scott's.

Scott screamed in a shock as he stood up. There was an immediate 40 increase in his muscle mass as he could feel himself getting stronger. The screaming stopped after several seconds as he stared at his hands, feeling like a new man.

"You OK, Scott?", Sonya warily stood also.

"I'm better than OK!", he exclaimed with a sharp grin, "I'm GREAT!!".

With those words, Scott walked over to the punching bag and sent his right fist into it. The eighty-pound bag jolted under the force and hit the ceiling with a loud bang as Sonya shook from the noise alone.

"HAHAAAAAA!!", Scott cheered.

"I've got somewhere to go", he instantly turned around and headed out of the exercise room.

He walked right out of the main door with Sonya rushing after him from a few feet behind. She didn't need to be a psychic to predict where he was going towards. Scott had his head lowered a bit and was wearing a cold facial expression as he made his way back to the bar.

"You've got nothing to prove, Scott", she verbally tried to hold him back to no avail, "You can leave it. It's fine".

He wasn't answering as his entire attention seemed fixed towards the direction of the bar. It took him only minutes to reach the bar again. They both entered the bar together, him looking for his target and her wishing he would just turn around.

He saw the man who had brought the chair down on his back sitting on a bar stool, slouched forward on the counter and staring ahead with a blank look on his face. He held a bottle of beer in his left hand as the wet bottom of the bottle was resting on the wooden counter itself. Scott walked up to him from behind and stopped when he was less than three feet away. He bent down, swiftly grabbed one of the legs of the stool with one hand and pulled it towards him as he stood up. The stool was smoothly yanked out from under the bully despite that one's great weight on it and he unceremoniously found himself falling towards the floor fast. He hit his chin on the wooden counter and saw stars before coming to a painful rest on the floor.

"What the f...", the thug stopped in midsentence as he looked up to see Scott staring down at him.

"You wanna go for two, big boy?", Scott crossed his arms.

Most of the occupants of the bar remembered him from a short while ago and decided to vacate the premises again. The man unsteadily stood up and made sure to grab the stool that was closest to him. If he had been thinking clearly, he would've been asking himself why his opponent would be so willing to fight again, especially since he was no match during the first fight. But his anger, mixed with several servings of alcohol, prompted him to raise the bar stool like he had done previously before he tried to bring it down on his adversary. Scott, in his own turn, raised his left arm and single-handedly grabbed the stool with ease as it came towards his head.

"In your dreams, big boy", Scott grimaced before punching the man in the stomach with his right hand.

The man let go of the stool and bent down, desperately gasping for breath.

"Hegggggghhhhhhh!! Hegggggghhhhhh!!", he kept trying because he couldn't inhale.

"This is truly pathetic", Scott commented as he dropped the stool on the floor.

He then pushed the bully's head away and that one fell on his back like a statue. He was still trying to inhale air as Scott turned around and walked towards the main entrance.

"Coming, Sonya?", Scott extended his left hand at her as he could still hear the man's gasps for air.

Sonya held his hand with her own as she followed him outside, amazed at his new strength and thankful that nothing worse happened.

"WHAT?", Scott blurted out as he saw detective Olsen's picture on the television set next to that of another police officer.

"...was shot and declared dead at the scene from a gunshot wound to the head", the reporter continued, "Detective Olsen was rushed to the hospital where he is listed in stable condition. Sources say he would have been killed also, except that the vest he was wearing probably saved his life. The dead suspect at the scene has not been identified yet and the wounded suspect was taken to the hospital under heavy guard. He is suffering from a gunshot wound to the leg. It has not been determined whether patrolman Peters' or detective Olsen's weapon was the one that has been used to wound him yet. And now to go to on live to anchorman Linscky for the latest from the hospital which has seen...".

"It's that damn announcement we got over the TV", Scott abruptly shut the television screen off, "It was from the Black Dragons. _They_ were the ones who did this! They encouraged anarchy all over the goddamn country. That announcement was heard coast to coast!".

"Still no answer from Johnny's hotel room", Sonya hung up the phone.

"What the hell's going on?", he asked her, realizing she knew no more than he did, "Why did those losers do this?".

"Do you wanna see him at the hospital?", she answered his question with one of her own.

"Can't", he responded, "News said only his family or fellow cops were allowed to see him now, and we're neither".

"We'll just wait then", she was forced to the same conclusion as him, "Until then, I might as well clean up the workout room. I guess we don't need your clothes for the clone any more".

"No, I guess not", he admitted.

"You want to talk about him?", she offered as he followed her to the exercise room, in case the experience with the clone was putting stress on his mind.

"What is there to talk about?", he told her, "The only thing I can't even imagine is what those jackasses at the Black Dragons put him through to make him this good".

"I don't understand", Sonya was confused as she removed the clone's clothes from the floor.

"Think about it, Sonya", he explained, "When I met you, even before I got shot, I could never have taken you out in a fair fight. And I was stronger when I met you than I had ever been before. But the clone beat you. What does that say about his training method?".

"I'd rather not imagine", she responded as she picked up the stereo and headed out of the room, nonverbally signaling him to follow.

Scott stayed immobile in his place. She turned around at the doorway as she realized he wasn't following her.

"You go on", he advised, "I'm gonna catch a workout. I need the relaxation".

"You're sure?", she asked, concerned, "Can you take it?".

"Yeah", he was confident, "I wanna find out what this body can really do".

"OK", she cautioned, "I'll be right outside if you need me".

"Thanks", he responded as she closed the door behind her and left him alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott was doing a full leg split with no difficulty at all. He could understand how the clone was tough enough to defeat Sonya in a confrontation. His only concern was to control his breathing as his legs were separated in a perfectly straight line. He loved it because he felt no pain at all. This discipline wasn't even a challenge, so he was forced to wonder what would be a formidable task for him. As his meditation became deeper, he began to remember. He soon realized he was recalling the memories that his clone warned him about from a first person's narration. The memories of a Black Dragons assassin began.

He was positioned behind a massive tree, covered in black from head to toe because he was dressed in his ninja outfit and looking through the scope of a high-powered rifle. He had detective Wang from the Hong Kong Police Department in his sights as his target approached a vehicle about forty yards away. Detective Wang had been annoying the Black Dragons with his anti-extortion task forces. He had been approached with an attempt to bribe him and made it clear that he could not be bought. Thus, this husband and father of two small children, who had a long day and was looking forward to going home to his family, had to be eliminated. Scott knew so much about him because it was customary for a Black Dragons hit man to extensively review the background of a target before the kill was carried out. His superiors wanted him to kill detective Wang instantly, so as to show to everyone else that the Black Dragons could massacre without even being seen or resisted.

He had detective Wang within the crosshairs of the telescopic aiming scope as that one tried to unlock the driver's side door of the car. The detective opened the door with his right hand as he held his badge in his left hand. Just as Scott was about to pull the trigger, Wang's badge slipped out of his hand and fell on the ground. He bent over to pick it up a fraction of a second before Scott fired. The bullet from the rifle went through the driver's side window and shattered it. Wang realized there was a sniper and ducked for cover as he withdrew his service revolver.

"DAMN IT!", Scott screamed, frustrated, as he punched the thick tree trunk.

Wang ran towards the opposite side of the vehicle and squatted behind the hood of the car. Knowing the rifle would be useless, Scott simply dropped it and charged towards him. The first thing Wang saw as he peeked towards the direction from which the bullet had been shot from was the ninja rushing straight at him.

Wang leveled the revolver with both hands in front of his face as he aimed for Scott. Scott's superior speed helped him reach the car in no time at all. He attained the side of the car where Wang had originally been, so he and his target were six feet apart with the hood of the car between them. He extended his arms and upper body forward and jumped. He seemed to smoothly glide across the hood and smashed both his fists into Wang's face before that one could pull the trigger.

Wang lost his grip on the weapon and was pushed backwards. He crashed on his back as Scott evenly rolled on the ground like a ball, softening his impact against the ground. Scott was on his feet first, although Wang was up a second later. Knowing the ninja was here to kill him, Wang took a fighting stance just like Scott did. One of them could not be allowed to walk away.

Scott struck first, delivering a sharp roundhouse kick to Wang's head. The detective held his forearm to the side of his head, but the back of Scott's ankle slammed into this forearm and violently knocked him against the hood of the car anyway. While the detective was facing the hood and trying to stand back up straight, Scott sent his right elbow into the back of that one's head. The second blow should've knocked his opponent out, but Wang proved to be more rugged than expected.

The detective twisted around despite the pain in his head and delivered a painful front kick into Scott's stomach. Scott bent down and took two steps back, trying to catch his breath. As his adversary tried to kick him in the head as a follow-up strike, though, Scott stood back up in time and was able to grab the attacking ankle. With Wang desperately trying to pull his leg out of the grip, Scott directed a massive uppercut into his chin before letting him go. The detective was thrown backwards hard as his lower back impacted into the front passenger side door.

Scott next twisted to his left and aimed for his rival's face with his right leg. The bottom of his right shoe collided into Wang's mouth, knocking teeth loose and sending forth a flow of blood. Scott instantly knew his target's jaw was broken, but he didn't stop there. He twisted to his right and sent his left fist into the detective's jaw as a sequel. The force of the swing against the already broken jaw knocked Wang down on his left side. On the ground but not conceding defeat, the detective executed a leg sweep which caught Scott off guard. The officer's ankle hit Scott's ankle and knocked the ninja down also. As they both stood up at the same time, Wang reached Scott and smashed his own forehead into the ninja's nose, knocking his attacker backwards.

Mildly annoyed, Scott rushed forwards and sent a second uppercut into his chin, twisting him around before he slammed against the hood of the vehicle again. The detective seemed dazed and helpless after suffering that extent of punishment. The ninja next placed both his hands on either side of Wang's head from behind, looking to quickly break his antagonist's neck. But Wang next turned and punched him in the stomach, without physically hurting him but destroying his concentration. The detective next grabbed Scott's mask and pulled it off his face. With his ninja mask on the ground, Wang stared into Scott's cold face for a split second.

A split second was all the time Wang was allowed because Scott exploded in anger. Having a prey see the face of his/her executioner was the ultimate insult for a ninja. Screaming with all the strength in his lungs, Scott grabbed Wang by both ears and forced that one's head down as lifted his own right knee, crashing the detective's chin into his knee. That hit dazed Wang for real and knocked him backwards again as Scott moved in for the kill. Despite Wang's previous training with the police force, Scott's viciousness and endurance was something he had never seen before. The irate ninja punched Wang in the face and body repeatedly, each strike more powerful than the one it followed, as the helpless detective was unable to put up any more resistance. Bones broke in Wang's head and upper body as Scott didn't ease up on his merciless assault. He efficiently shifted the punches between his left and right arms in order to keep his opponent standing so that one wouldn't fall on one side.

After approximately thirty such strong blows, Wang's broken and bloodied body simply fell forward without any reaction. He lay face-down and motionless on the ground as Scott finally placed both hands on each side of his head again. Detective Wang might have already been dead, but a ninja never left anything to chance. He growled like a cat and broke his target's neck with ease. He then walked over to where his mask rested on the ground, picked it up and wore it again.

Detective Wang never made it home that day. His worried family reported him missing after calling the police department and finding out that he was not working overtime. His body was found and identified several hours later. The ninja, in his turn, had picked up the rifle from behind the tree and reported back to the Black Dragons headquarters. He had to face the chief assassin and be evaluated because, although his target was dead, Scott had allowed him to put up a fight. His directions had stated that Wang was to be killed by a clean gunshot without being able to resist whatsoever so as to pass a message to all who opposed the Black Dragons. In that respect, the ninja had failed. The chief assassin, named Alloy, was someone who was feared by everyone in the organization...

During his meditation in the workout room, the original Scott realized why the chief assassin had such a name. While still in the full leg split, he kept on remembering his clone's experiences...

The ninja nervously walked into Alloy's personal room, dreading what could happen. After he was inside and closed the door, Alloy wrapped his right hand around his throat, lifted him a foot off the ground and flattened him against the wall. Alloy was not a real person, he, or it, was a six and a half foot tall, silver-colored cyborg. He was shaped mostly like a human male, except he was the same, shiny color from head to toe, with a pair of sparkles for eyes, no hair and no clothes.

"YOU FAILED!!", Alloy barked as he looked up at Scott.

"He... Dropped... His badge...", the ninja gasped as he tried to breath through the metal grip, "It... wasn't my... ffff... fault".

"NO EXCUSES!!", Alloy released the grip on Scott's throat and the ninja shakily fell on the ground.

Before the ninja even got a chance to rub his throat, Alloy kicked him in the stomach. Scott gasped in pain as he sunk parallel to the floor.

"Don't, please!", he begged, holding his left arm up in front of him even though he knew it wouldn't do him any good.

His pleads went unheard as Alloy kicked him in the upper body three more times, sending a rush of pain with each strike. The ninja didn't strike back, he didn't even try. He only stayed on the floor and waited until the penalty for failure was over...

The original Scott opened his eyes from the meditation.

"Why the hell doesn't he hit him back??", he angrily asked himself as more memories followed.

The original Scott closed his eyes.

This was a different setting.

Scott was in his pitch-black ninja outfit as he climbed a bell tower overlooking a popular marketplace late at night. He carried a heavy load in a bag strapped to his back and climbed without the help of a rope or anything of the kind. The sixty-yard long concrete bell tower was completely vertical, so climbing it was a challenge, even for him.  
He eventually made it to the top and unstrapped the bag. Unzipping it, he withdrew a shoulder-propelled rocket launcher and an automatic assault rifle with a fourteen inch long silencer attached to the muzzle and a telescopic scope. Loading the rift with a clip of thirty six bullets, he calmly looked through the scope and aimed at the busy marketplace a short distance away. Without blinking, he picked out targets at random and pulled the trigger several times. He could barely hear anything as a handful of bullets shot out of the weapon, so the silencer was doing its job. Five total strangers were the first people hit. They dropped to the ground as their clothes became inundated with blood as others wondered what happened to them. Before any bystanders even realized those five people were dead, the ninja picked out some more targets. More pulls of the trigger took more lives as people everywhere seemed to suddenly and inexplicably drop dead for no reason.

Then, someone raised the alarm that these people were shot to death and they were being targeted. Panic gripped the crowd as people fought each other in order to rush somewhere else, although they had no idea where the gunman was. Scott quickly loaded a fresh, second clip into the rifle and set the weapon on automatic mode, meaning he could keep the trigger pressed and all thirty six bullets would fire quickly by themselves. He aimed for the panicked crowd and unsympathetically squeezed the trigger hard without easing up on the pressure in his index finger. He also swung the weapon at a slight degree back and forth in order to increase his body count. All thirty six bullets exited the rifle within about six seconds. He soon lost count of the number of people shot as he hurriedly, but calmly, took out the empty clip and replaced it with a fresh, third one.

As the darkness had already enveloped the bell tower, his killing spree soon ended along with the third clip. All the survivors in the marketplace simply dashed out as soon as they could. What remained were the scores of victims who were not so lucky. A few had been trampled to death during the frantic haste, but most had been shot. In the marketplace that had suddenly turned into a slaughter house, only the noise of crickets remained.

But soon, a helicopter was heard coming closer. The helicopter approached his bell tower because it had already been guessed that it was the area where the gunman was hiding. Scott did not know whether the helicopter belonged to the police department or to a news agency, and he didn't care. All he knew was that it was for this special occasion that he had carried along the shoulder-propelled rocket launcher.

Unknown to him, the helicopter was working under the authority of the police department. With the help of a video camera, it was also sending the events seen live to all the homes in the city which were watching the news. As an occupant in the helicopter shined a powerful light on top of the bell tower, exposing him, Scott responded by aiming the rocket launcher on the source of the light. He gave a slight grin as he was about to fire.

The only thing the viewers at home saw on the television set when the light was shone on the bell tower was a figure in black. Then, the figure held up a large object on his shoulder and seemed to be pointing it at the camera. The figure was then pushed back, as if recoiling from an impact. Static followed on the television set where, only a second ago, there had been a live report. Unknown to the many viewers, the helicopter went down in a ball of flames.

The ninja's mission was a complete success as he left the automatic rifle and rocket launcher behind and climbed back down the bell tower. This mass murder should keep the authorities busy for a long time, he thought to himself as he disappeared into the night. The Black Dragons members could now carry out their important deals while the police was too busy to watch them...

The original Scott opened his eyes again. He remembered the mass murder in Hong Kong. The last he had heard was that seventy-one people were killed. It was the worst mass murder in both Hong Kong and world history by a single gunman. The gunman had never been apprehended.

Feeling several different emotions at once, he reached forward and placed his palms against the floor as he pushed himself out of the split. He next forced his way out of the exercise room, trying not to be overwhelmed by the recent recollections. Sonya was in the living room seated on the couch and watching the television set as she saw the expression on his face.

"What's wrong?", she asked, concerned, as she stood up.

"You remember when the clone said I'd remember his past?", he reminded her.

"Uhuh", she answered.

"And you remember when he said he had never done anything good?", he went on.

"Yeah?".

"He was right", he sighed as he slowly sat down on the couch, "I couldn't believe what I saw".

"What did you see?", she asked, positioning herself next to him.

"You remember the mass killing in Hong Kong? The one that cost seventy-one lives?", he told her, "He was the one responsible for the whole thing".

"My God", she was stunned, "You're kidding me. But why?".

"I _wish_ I was kidding", he continued, placing his head in his hands, "It was just something to be used as a diversion when his bosses held a meeting. They wanted every cop to be busy with something else so they wouldn't be watched. And he killed a cop too. A cop who was trying to stop the Black Dragons from extorting money".

"Are you OK with it?", she inquired as he stood up.

"I'm fine, just caught off-guard, I guess. I can handle it", he told her as he headed for the bathroom, wanting to wash his face with cold water.

Scott splashed handfuls of icy water on his face as his lowered head was several inches above the sink. Even though the cold water was running, he could hear Sonya in the kitchen as she made herself more sandwiches. After almost a minute of washing his face over and over again, he decided it was time to stop. So he shut off the flow of water and picked his upper body up to his full height. The first sight he saw was his reflection in the mirror over the sink. The second sight he saw was the reflection of detective Wang's bloody face as that one stood behind him to his left.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!", Scott screamed out and spun around, feeling more frightened than he ever remembered in the past.

There was nobody behind him, but he could still hear his heart as it beat much faster than usual in his chest.

"What? _What_?", Sonya rushed over to him.

Scott couldn't answer, but his wide eyes told her something was seriously wrong.

"Talk to me!", she pressed, "What happened?".

Scott finally looked at her, pointing to the area where he thought the detective was behind him.

"I saw...", he whispered, still panicked, "I saw the cop. The cop the ninja killed... He was right here".

"Your eyes were just playing tricks on you, Scott", she tried to calm him down, "Look, this has been a really long day, with the ninja dying and seeing Olsen shot on the...".

"He was _here_!", he raised his voice, still pointing to the spot.

Sonya realized there was no point in trying to argue with him as he was in such a state of mind. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and placed her right palm against the back of his head.

"It's OK, it's OK", she repeated, holding him close, "Everything will be fine".

"I'm fine. I'm fine", Scott abruptly pulled away, having calmed down, "Where the hell are Liu and Johnny, huh?".

Just then, the phone rang.

"That's probably them now", she smiled at him, trying to make him feel better, "You wanna get it?".

"No, go right ahead", he unemotionally responded as he grabbed hold of a towel to dry his face off.

He heard her picking up the receiver and talking. From the tone of her voice and the things she said, he could tell it was someone she knew, but not Johnny or Liu. If it had been, she would've told whichever of the two who called that they had been wondering where they were. Her conversation didn't last long as she soon hung up and looked at him as he came out of the bathroom.

"That wasn't them?", he asked even though he already knew.

"No, that was daddy", she said, "He's not gonna be here tomorrow morning. The meeting is gonna take a while longer than expected".

Neither one spoke for a few, uneasy seconds.

"Listen, do you want to go see Olsen when we're allowed?", she broke the silence.

"Sure", was his blunt answer as he got a hold of his pillow, indicating he wanted to sleep.

"Well", she tried to smile again, not knowing how to react to his suddenly cold behavior, "I guess I might as well hit the sack too. Don't worry about Liu and Johnny, they know how to take care of themselves. I'm sure they'll be here tomorrow morning".

"Wake me up tomorrow when you're up", he said without looking at her as he tossed the pillow on the couch, almost sounding as if he was giving an order.

"Sure thing", she replied as she headed for her bedroom, "But why? If you don't mind me asking".

"Why do you think? I wanna look for a job", he replied in a hostile manner, "I'm tired of being a goddamn deadweight around here".

She hoped that he would feel better when he woke up the next morning as she quietly headed into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was at work late in the morning. Her routine task of pointing to the area where customers could go to find what they were looking for or putting up new items on shelves proved to be quiet boring. She kept reporting to work day after day because she knew it wouldn't be right to let her father bring home the only paycheck. As much as she hated to admit it, she desperately missed her days in Hong Kong, even though she had to put up with people like the colonel. At least there she had some purpose, she thought to herself.

Her mind soon drifted towards Scott and how he had gotten off the couch without a word when she woke him up several hours before with the cold look still on his face. He had only said a brief 'bye' as he headed out the door before she did. She did not understand what was wrong with him and was frankly beginning to worry. If that wasn't bad enough, Johnny's and Liu's whereabouts were still unknown. She hoped she would hear from her fellow kombatants as soon as she got home later on in the evening. As she was almost finished shelving the contents of the current cart, a man walked up to her holding about a dozen roses in his right hand and a wrapped package in his left.

"You wouldn't happen to be miss Blade, would you?", he asked, hoping for a positive answer.

"Yeah, that's me", Sonya looked at him, "Do I know you?".

"No, I'm just delivering this", the man handed her the flowers and the package before he turned around and began to walk away, leaving her astounded.

"I'm just glad I found you because I got plenty more to give out before the end of the day", he said to no one in particular as he got farther.

"Wait, who _are_ you?", she called after him, "What is this for?".

"I'm a delivery man, lady", he turned his face to partially see her as he kept walking, "Flower service delivery".

"Huh?", she asked herself as she set the wrapped package on the floor in order to take a look at the card that was thankfully attached to the roses.

"Meet me after work at home as soon as you can", she read the card aloud as she saw Scott's name signed below the words.

She was still wondering about its meaning when her middle-aged store manager saw her as he was out of his office.

"Miss Blade", he addressed her, "I _am_ glad you're having a nice love life, but could you do it on your own time?".

"But, but, but...", she didn't know what to say, "I'm sorry. Uh, could I put these in your office until the end of the shift?".

"Sure thing", he answered as he went on his way.

She walked into the manager's office and closed the door behind her. She rested the roses on the desk since she was impatient to find out what the package contained and quickly tore the paper cover and adhesive tape off. Inside was a neon green halter as well as a pair of neon green sweatpants. The pants were loose enough to be comfortable if she needed to use her legs in a physical conflict. The halter was in a style so that it snugly covered every square inch of the upper half of the torso from the solar plexus to the neck, leaving the arms completely bare.

"Whaaat?", she asked herself as she stared at the clothes.

She knew she couldn't wait there long, so she roughly placed both the halter and the sweatpants back in the torn paper cover and kept them next to the roses. She would only know the reason for the delivery when she got home after the workday was over. She could barely wait.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was about to use her key to get through the front door of her home after her shift was at last over, but she found the door to be unlocked. Turning the knob and coming inside, she only saw the light of the living room on.

"Scott?", she called to him as she closed the door behind her and placed the flowers and the open package on the nearest couch.

Her former Special Forces partner walked out of the kitchen with a smile on his face, obviously glad to see her. She was just happy his cold facial expression was gone.

"You got them", he saw the flowers.

"Yeah", she smiled back, "I must admit it was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. But what was it for? I've been wondering all day long about it".

"Well, I got a job", he gladly answered, "Granted it's a brainless thing, but it earns a paycheck, right? It was nice since it was the sixth place I had visited that had a help wanted sign. The first five only said 'don't call us, we'll call you', but this place hired me on the spot. I start next Monday".

"OK, that's nice", she commented, "But why the package? What's the green outfit for?".

"Well, you remember how you had a dream with you in them?", he kept smiling, "That was when Goro had come back, remember that?".

"Uh. Yeah, yeah".

"Well, the dreams are sometimes an unconscious desire for something", he told her, "So I figured I might as well shop around while I had time to kill".

"Oh", she was pleased at the thought, although the green clothes she wore in the dream were olive-colored and not neon, and the lower half of the outfit was a pair of tights, not loose sweatpants.

But she didn't tell him either one of those facts.

"So, did you call Johnny and Liu?", she wondered, thinking he might've heard from them already.

"Can't say I did. I didn't hear from them", he answered, still smiling, "Besides, I only wanted to call you".

"Oh, you feel better?", she posed, "You seemed upset this morning".

"That's past", he waved his arm back, "I was waiting for you because I wanted to talk when you came home".

"What's on your mind?", she asked, not wanting to jump to conclusions.

"Would you like to sit down?", he pointed at a couch first.

"Sure, I'm pretty worn out", she took a seat.

"Well, I've been thinking", Scott started, "Have you noticed how limited and shortsighted our role as siblings is?".

"Wadda you mean?", Sonya replied, seeing the direction this was heading but still not wanting to make assumptions.

Scott squatted next to her and stared into her eyes.

"Sonya, I couldn't get you out of my mind all day long", his eyes seemed to brighten as he talked, "You're the lady of my dreams, I don't know why I didn't see it before".

He abruptly stood.

"We can do a lot more than we've been doing so far", he told her, with the smile still on his face.

Sonya didn't feel comfortable sitting down as he was standing any more. She stood up after him.

"Like what?", she gleefully asked.

"Maybe like this", he said.

Scott placed his hands, palm-down, on either side of her face and kissed her on the lips. This wasn't a simple kiss on the cheek or the forehead that she might expect from her partners, either from the tournament or military, but a slow and passionate one.

"Wow!", she pulled her face back, feeling pleased but somewhat overwhelmed by the emotion of it.

"I know what you're saying, I should've done that _way_ before", he smiled back.

"Wow", she repeated.

"What? You can't imagine having a mere private for a soul mate?", he asked her.

"No, it's not that. Those ranks are in the past", she was honest, "I just never thought of you and me in that way before. I never thought of me and _anybody_ in that way before".

"Well, don't you think it's about time you should?", he asked next, "You and I were made for each other, Sonya".

"Well, that's...", she was interrupted in midsentence.

"You know, maybe you're right", Scott went on, "Maybe this isn't the right thing to do. I mean, a relationship just doesn't look so serious like this, does it? Marry me".

"Huh?".

"Marry me. As in be my wife", he kept smiling, "Besides, I'm sure Liu would appreciate having the living room all to himself when he goes to sleep. Your father already calls me 'son' anyway, we might as well make it official. Come on, didn't you ever wanna have kids and start a family?".

"_Kids_?! Hell no!", her eyes widened, "Wait a sec, wait a sec. Marriage is a bit rushed, no?".

"If you say so", Scott said, "Besides, I don't like kids either. I just said that in case _you_ wanted some at one point in the future. But how about us? This is the right thing to do, sweetheart, I can feel it".

Before she could say anything, he resumed.

"Is there anybody else, by the way?", he added, "Are Johnny or Liu my competition here?".

She opened her mouth to answer, but he interrupted again.

"I'm just asking. They're great guys".

"No, they're not", she was finally able to respond, "I love those guys, but neither one of them ever brought this up".

"OK", he accepted.

"I must admit, this is something exciting", she smiled at him, "It'd be great with you and me".

"I know!", it was exactly what he wanted to hear, "You wanna get something to eat, by the way? Are you hungry?".

"No, I ate at work", she replied, "I'm just really worn out. I was looking to end the day until tomorrow. I got the day off, so you and me can have time off since you don't start until next Monday".

"Yeah", he agreed.

"I'm gonna hit the bed", she almost headed towards the bedroom before realizing things had abruptly changed.

Scott thought she looked as if she was lost, maybe nervous.

"So, how do you wanna, you know... do this?", she questioned.

"You don't want to sleep with me, do you?", he bluntly commented

"I...", she tried to choose her words, "I didn't say that".

"It's OK, it's fine", he was still cheerful, "This has all been sudden. It's understandable if the feeling's not mutual. I can wait until it is".

He held her right hand and gently pulled it towards his face before he kissed the inside of her wrist.

"God knows you're worth waiting for", he added.

Sonya found herself feeling somewhat relieved.

"I just don't think it'd be the right thing to do right now", she uttered.

"I understand", he stated as let go of her hand.

"Thanks", she answered.

She reached forward and kissed him goodnight on the lips.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning", she added.

"I'll be here", he still smiled as he watched her go.

Once in her room, she excitedly thought about what had just happened.

"Scott... Scott and me...", she spoke to herself, "We could really make this work".

She asked herself if things could finally be taking a turn for the better.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, she was up early, as expected. She saw Scott awake and alert just as she was while the sun was still rising outside. The first debate was what they should do for the first time. Her idea was to prepare breakfast for them both, he disagreed since he wanted to go for a walk but was soon submitted. The simple ham and eggs breakfast took less than half an hour as all they discussed while eating it was the food or the news, nothing about what had happened last night. She guessed that was probably because Scott wanted to discuss the previous night's events when they were outside with nothing else on their mind. She seemed to be right because he placed all the dishes in the sink soon after breakfast was over and offered her his left hand.

"Come on, it's time for that walk now", he stated.

"We should do the dishes first", she replied.

"Screw the dishes", he smiled back, "They can wait, I can't. Come on, it'll be fun".

She conceded and held his hand as they headed out the door.

The air was comfortably cool outside as they seemed to be walking in no particular direction, which was fine with both. Scott mentioned the prior day's occurrence pretty soon afterwards...

"...didn't think it'd be right to let this chance pass me by, I don't know if you understand that", he was saying, "Sooner or later, one has to realize that long-term events happen for a reason, and...".

He was interrupted by a scream from the front of an apartment building about half a block away. As they both turned their attention to it, they saw a middle-aged man and woman arguing in as loud a manner as possible. It didn't take the man long to turn the verbal argument into a physical one by pushing the woman. As Sonya and Scott witnessed, he followed it with a blunt kick to her leg. Scott thought he had seen enough.

"Help me?", he let go of her hand and pointed towards the scene of the argument.

"Sure", she replied.

"Excuse me, sir?", Scott called out as he approached the arguing couple, followed by the kombatant, "I'm going to have to ask you to stop that".

The man was not calmed or impressed by his polite behavior.

"Piss off!", he answered, spitting on the ground.

"Please, sir", Scott went on, getting closer, "That kind of response will not get you far in life".

The man turned away from the woman as Scott stood three steps away. He then violently shoved his right index finger into the ninja's chest.

"Listen, you stupid...", he started.

Scott interrupted him by grabbing the man's hand with his left hand and the man's forearm with his right one. With his eyes completely steady and before the man could even utter a reply, Scott pushed that one's hand upwards and back. He knew the man's hand was broken when he heard the bone snap and saw the back of the man's hand touching the forearm. Sonya's eyes widened as the man screamed hysterically and pulled his arm back, holding his wrist with his good hand. The only reason he was able to pull his arm back was because Scott intentionally released the grip on his forearm.

"See, if I'm being polite to you, why do you insist on responding with such profanity?", Scott calmly asked as he grabbed the thinning hair on the back of the man's head.

Before either Sonya or the middle-aged woman could protest, Scott slammed the man's face into the brick wall of the apartment building. Blood exploded from the man's face and stained the dull-colored brick. Scott next held on to the back of the man's head and was getting ready to send his free fist into the man's spine as the older woman screamed. Alarmed, Sonya reached him from behind and quickly, but lightly, wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Scotty, that's enough", she counseled, "Let him go".

Scott shrugged his shoulders and upper body with enough strength to push her off his back. He then released the man's head as that one sunk to the ground in pain. Sonya thought for a fraction of a second that her former partner had calmed down, but then found out that he hadn't. With his right hand curled into a fist, Scott fiercely twisted around and swung his right arm horizontally. His right knuckles crashed into Sonya's jaw and her face twisted to the left as she was propelled five feet backwards. She landed on the cold ground on her back as her vision blurred momentarily while she looked up at the sky. She believed her jaw was broken as Scott angrily reached her and bent down. He wrapped his right hand around her throat and violently pulled her back up to her feet before flattening her back against the wall.

"Don't you ever, _ever_, do that again!", he barked as he stared into her eyes in a rage. He was squeezing her neck with enough might to keep her from being able to breath.

"Get out of here", Sonya gasped at the older couple, "Go now!".

The woman helped the man get back up to his feet and they both scurried away feeling scared.

"Get off of me!!", she furiously tried to scream but couldn't because of his grip.

She punched him in the face with all the power in her arm. Although the blow didn't even come close to hurting Scott, it forced him to release the grip on her neck. Barely distracted, he answered with a similar punch to her face in the same fashion. She lost her balance because of the hit and staggered several steps to the side. Not discouraged, she twisted to her left and raised her bent right leg as high as possible along with the flow. Once nearing his head, she straightened the right leg and her right ankle slammed into his jaw. Scott's head snapped to his right under the impact, but he still had plenty of energy left to return the same style of kick towards her own head. As his ankle crashed into her jaw, Sonya flew in midair and landed hard on her stomach over ten feet away.

She clumsily pulled herself back up to her feet as she tasted blood in her mouth. Scott was just standing several feet away and staring at her. As she felt her jaw with her left hand, she knew it wasn't broken and her icy eyes locked with his hostile ones.

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, tough guy", she said with spite, "But I want you _out_ of my home, you got that?".

"It's technically your father's ho...", Scott easily began to respond.

"I want you out of there!!", she barked, interrupting, "And by tonight!".

"You plan to bring in every guy you met in the tournament to give them a ride they'll never forget?", his eyes were kept locked with hers, "Is that why I'm being kicked out?".

Her changed facial expression said she was surprised at his statement.

"Fuck you!", she shot back.

"Fine", he answered remorselessly as he simply turned and walked back towards her home.

Sonya watched him go as she slowly sat down on the ground. She was still trying to calm herself down as her heart kept racing. She had no idea how he could be so calm after what had just happened, but he was.

It took her a few minutes to gather herself up emotionally before she stood back up and went back to her home herself.

She reached the open front door and walked in, closing the door behind her. Scott was busy placing his ninja outfit and Beretta in a gym back which was on the couch as he didn't even acknowledge her presence. She was waiting for him to apologize or say or do anything that would indicate he was felt remorse for his actions, but he didn't.

"Where're you going?", she asked, not being able to take the silence in the living room.

"I'll do better than tonight", he replied, still gathering all the clips for his pistol, "I'll be out of here now".

She thought that any moment she would hear something along the lines of 'I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me', but nothing happened. She was willing to forgive him if he would only ask for her pardon. Scott had meant a lot to her, even before the previous night.

"It's bad enough that I have to put up with this from Kano or Benson or Goro or losers like them", she pointed her right index finger at him, "But I _don't_ have to put up with it from you. I expect more from you guys".

Scott closed the gym bag and walked past her without a word before opening the door to leave.

"Where the hell are you going?", she pressed, "Aren't you even gonna _try_ to apologize?".

"No", he only shook his head before he left through the doorway and closed the door behind him.

Sonya considered going after him and trying to stop him from leaving, but she ultimately didn't. She sat down on the nearest couch, stared straight ahead and asked herself what just happened.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The sound of Sonya's hand banging on the motel room door reverberated loudly. She knocked on it once, waited, knocked on it again, waited some more and was now trying for a third time. All day yesterday, she wasn't able to stop thinking about Scott and all that they had meant to each other since they met in Hong Kong after she had run into Kano. This particular motel was the fourth one that she had visited this morning and, unlike the previous three, the manager had remembered seeing Scott. He was also kind enough to give her his room number.

"Scott, it's Sonya. Come on, open the door", she introduced herself during the third knock.

She waited and received no response. She knocked on the door again, this time even louder.

"Open up, you son of a bitch!!", she was getting irate, "_This_ is the way you live now? I said open up, I know you're in there!! You think you can just ignore me after everything that's happened?".

The other motel room occupants clearly heard her, but no one yelled at her to quiet down. She waited through a few seconds of silence and struck the door yet again, the knock getting louder with each attempt. Scott finally opened the door with an annoyed look on his face as he was dressed in the ninja outfit minus only the mask.

"Don't you _ever_ get the message?", he didn't bother hiding his annoyance, "I don't wanna _talk_ to you, lady!".

Sonya aggressively pushed him inside by shoving both her palms into his chest. The push sent him two steps backwards and into the room before she followed him in and closed the door behind her.

"Well, isn't that nice and convenient for you", she answered, infuriated, "You don't want to talk to me. How cute. That's not what you said less than two days ago. All of a sudden, you _decide_ you wanna be intimately involved. Then, you _decide _you wanna break me in half because I disagreed with your opinion over the use of force. And now, you _decided_ you were better off without talking to me?".

Scott opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off.

"Contrary to your belief, everything in life _doesn't_ revolve around you", she pointed her right index finger at him in an accusing fashion.

Scott exhaled loudly, wanting to make sure she was through with the lecture.

"Lady, what do you want from me?", he asked, almost as if he was getting tired of her, "You told me to leave, so I left. You never have to see me again, what more do you need?".

Sonya was still angry, so her response was almost a scream.

"I want you to say you're sorry! That it won't happen again and that you...", she stopped and calmed down enough to stop screaming, "That you still love me... You're the lady of my dreams, I couldn't get you out of my mind, we were made for each other. You remember all that? When you said all those things, it wasn't a lie, wasn't it?".

"Of course it was a lie, you idiot!", Scott coldly answered as he took a casual step away from her, "Come on, do you honestly think men talk like that? I was just looking to get laid in a one night stand. I figured that line was the best way to get some sex just for the hell of it".

Sonya's heart sank when she heard him. Feeling extremely sad but not showing it through her facial expression, she stared quietly into his eyes, trying to determine for sure whether or not he was telling the truth. Since he realized what she was trying to do, Scott locked eyes with her for several heartbeats without a word. His eyes then involuntarily blinked twice and he partially looked away, feeling even more annoyed.

"You're lying!", she exclaimed, feeling better, "And not doing a very good job of it either!".

"You don't understand, do you?", he said, feeling as if he failed, "The reason I don't apologize is because I don't feel any remorse. The marriage proposal and everything else wasn't a lie, but me saying 'I'm sorry' _would_ be".

That was when she realized for the first time how much the clone's new body changed him. He walked up to her and brought his face to within six inches from hers.

"You have to stay away from me", he whispered, "The fact that I can't say 'I'm sorry' proves that. What if there's a Beretta or a Glock around the next time I explode, huh? Do yourself a favor. Walk out that door, forget about me and find a guy who deserves you".

She was surprised how emotionally calm he seemed as he spoke, instead of looking heartbroken. The ninja's discipline had helped him keep a tight control over his emotions at all times.

Scott placed both his hands with the palms down on either side of her face and slowly kissed her on the lips before pulling away.

"Now get lost", he advised as he turned away and headed towards the Beretta on the bed.

But Sonya wouldn't let him go with grace.

"Forget about me?", she repeated his words, "Wasn't that _my_ line back in Hong Kong?".

"Just go and find someone else", he pressed.

"Oh, sure", she replied sarcastically, "Because guys are just lining up to have a relationship with a woman who killed more people than she can count and who is aggressive enough to beat them up".

She sighed.

"Look", she continued, "What you're doing is sweet. It takes a lot of character to sacrifice something like this, but it doesn't have to come to that".

"Lady, this ain't a freaking romance novel!", Scott wished she would just leave.

"And what are _you_ gonna do, huh?", she questioned.

"I'm going to pay the Black Dragons a visit", he easily told her.

"What?".

"The organization has headquarters in the capital of every industrial country", Scott explained, "My clone has been at every one of them. He knows where the one in Washington DC is. I'm going there".

"What the hell for?".

"Please", he replied as if she should've already known the answer, "These idiots went on the air and told every lowlife out there to declare war on the police. It was probably just to have a diversion for whatever they were planning and they didn't feel like being watched. Who the _hell_ do they think they are, doing that to the likes of Olsen? When I think of all the attitude that guy put up with from me, he deserves way more than that".

She didn't answer.

"Besides, how long until they send someone else after you and an innocent person gets hit because the moron can't hit a dartboard from two feet away?", he added, "I owe it to all the victims. And I have a little score to settle with their chief assassin. He's there too".

"I should come with you", she advised, "You're gonna be disadvantaged if you head in there without backup".

"Absolutely not", Scott decided without counseling for her opinion, "This is my fight alone".

"Look, where is this place of theirs anyway that you think is their headquarters?", she asked.

"The twenty-story building downtown, around the corner from Dlane and Claridge avenue", he mentioned, "It belongs to them. They have a large bunker under it. Only Black Dragons personnel ever walk in or out of that building, but on the outside it looks like a completely legitimate business. It's right under everyone's nose".

"You can't be serious about going in there alone", she insisted, "There's probably an army in there, you'll need me".

Scott said nothing.

"Look, I could go home, change into my outfit from the army and grab the Glock in twenty minutes flat", she tried to encourage her participation, "When Goro came back, you said we were a team. That if he bothered one of us then he was bothering all of us, no? You should follow your own helpful guidance. We could go in there together, it always helps to have somebody watching your back".

"That's right, it does", Scott commented as he approached her, "But there's just one problem".

"What's that?", she asked innocently enough as he stood facing her from two feet away.

"I'm in love with you and if you got hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself", he told her to her face, "I have enough on my conscience".

With those words, Scott delivered a devastating punch to her head, knocking her out instantly. He made sure to rush forward and grab her in his arms before she hit the floor. He next carried the kombatant by passing his left forearms under her upper back and his right forearm under her knees.

Scott gently rested her on the motel bed before he placed the pillow under her head. He then grabbed the blanket that was on the bed and actually covered her with it from the shoulders down because he was worried about her being cold. He then gripped the handle of his Beretta and checked to make sure the clip was full.

Scott took the mask portion of his ninja outfit and walked out of the motel room, unsure as to whether or not he'd ever see her again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The ninja casually made his way towards the main door of the building at Dlane and Claridge avenues. He didn't stand out among most people who saw him because he still had not worn his mask. Without it, he looked only like someone who had an overwhelming fondness for black clothes. He stood at the automatic entrance of the building and patiently waited until the double-door opened by itself and he was able to enter the lobby of the building. Once inside, eight men stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Obviously, everyone who walked through those automatic doors was known, thus he stood out since he wasn't expected. Scott withdrew his ninja mask and carefully placed it over his head, making only his eyes visible as people began worrying.

"Listen up", he announced as he rested his hand behind him, gripping the handle of the Beretta, "This building is a front to an organized crime syndicate. The syndicate is my enemy. All of you who wish not to be involved should leave now".

Not unexpectedly, all eight men stayed where they were. Some of them reached for a weapon while others pressed a button, signaling an intruder, but no one expressed surprise at the information received or tried to leave. Scott jumped towards his left as he withdrew the semiautomatic pistol. Two men had already withdrawn a short, unknown assault weapon which they aimed at him from twenty yards away. Before either one of them could pull the trigger, Scott had both of them in his sight. He pulled the trigger of his weapon twice quickly, one round exploded in the chest of each man. Each dropped towards the floor, convulsing and tasting blood.

Scott's instincts spotted two targets, one to his immediate right and one at his left, slightly behind him. Both individuals were busy taking the safety device off their weapon in order to enable it to reach automatic fire status. It was something that would only take them a second, but it was one second which they didn't have. With the Beretta firmly in his right grip, Scott lowered his right upper arm by his side and flattened his right forearm horizontally against his solar plexus. Thus, the 9mm handgun pointed out of his left upper arm. He glanced to his left without moving his body, seeing the target behind him and to his left out of the corner of his eye. He smoothly pulled the trigger a third time, that person's scream telling him he had a hit. The ninja next lifted his right upper arm horizontally at the shoulder and aimed at the target at his immediate right. As that one was about to fire, Scott beat him to the trigger and a 9mm round lodged itself in the target's head.

Scott heard a safety device being taken off from directly behind him. Without taking time out to see the distance between him and his opponent, he leapt towards his right. As he was in midair, flying towards a spot ten feet away, a hail of bullets ripped through the air at exactly where he had been standing. He curled himself into a ball and stealthily rolled on the floor at the same time that he turned to face the backwards direction, finding his balance in a squatting position. Locking eyes with his fifth target, he aimed again and fired a single shot before that one was able to follow him in his automatic weapon's sight. The bullet entered the man's chest just three inches below the base of his neck and he fell backwards with a scream.

Still ducking his upper body, the ninja stood in time to see two adversaries in front of him with automatic rifles as his ears indicated a third one to be behind him. All three fired at once as Scott dashed towards the automatic weapon of his fifth downed victim. With a barrage of bullets closely following, he reached the intended weapon as he heard the lone person behind him being hit by the fire of the two men in front of him.

Scott grabbed the handle of the automatic firearm with his left hand as he ran past the body of the fifth target without stopping or even slowing down. Knowing his ambidextrous talent could prove useful, he suavely aimed towards the last two targets with his left arm. A pull of the trigger sent approximately thirty 9mm bullets towards the two men before they were torn apart where they stood. The victim on the right kept pulling the trigger of his weapon before falling backwards. Bullets from his firearm tore into the automatic double-door, piercing it. Scott followed the trail of the rounds with his eyes, hoping those bullets didn't hit anyone outside.

Scott next heard a moan from behind, prompting him to twist around with both weapons pointed. Seeing no one, he dropped the automatic firearm and pointed the Beretta downward as he held it with both hands. He warily proceeded towards the origin of the noise. Walking several steps revealed the person who had been firing from behind him and was hit by friendly fire. That one was lying in a small pool of blood as his upper body was riddled at several areas and he still tried to reach for the weapon which was clearly out of his grasp. The ninja aimed down at the man's forehead with the barrel of the handgun. Scott didn't know what the man would say if he could speak, but he couldn't. He could only raise his left arm, as if wanting to stop the inevitable while he only saw his executioner's eyes. The ninja pulled back on the trigger and sent one bullet clean through his head, stopping all movement.

Scott knew he had to prepare since reinforcement would surely be arriving because some of these people had pressed a button before reaching for a weapon. He rushed towards what the memories of his clone told him was the main hallway to reach the underground bunker. Exercising total control over his entire body, he ran quietly down the hallway, passing a number of doors. Since no one was coming out of them after hearing the gunfire, he knew they were empty. After about forty yards, he came face-to-face with two members who were running towards him in response to the distress call from the floor lobby. Seeing him, both drew the same assault rifle he had seen before. They didn't get a chance to use it because Scott quickly turned and ran towards the first open door he saw. Both men leveled their weapon towards him as he opened the door and disappeared into the room. Not impressed by his outfit or his demeanor, they followed him.

Both men entered the windowless inventory room where the ceiling was about twenty feet high. They scanned the area with their firearms as they slowly went in. Seeing no one immediately, they believed their target was hiding behind one of the large cartons that were lined up against two of the walls in the room. Carefully heading towards the cartons, neither man thought to look at the ceiling. They would've seen Scott if they looked up because he was hanging on to the vertical wall with his head touching the ceiling. He had climbed up the wall and had inserted a razor-sharp blade into the concrete with such force that it could hold him up when he hung to it. He didn't remember how he was able to climb the flat wall by using his hands and feet alone, but it must've been an instinct his clone passed on to him without him even realizing it.

As both men approached the cartons, Scott voluntarily let go of the blade and slipped all the way down, his legs impacting against the floor in front of the open door. Both men turned around, surprised. If he had wanted to run, he could have, but he preferred to stay. Scott quickly locked the door and with it forced all three of them to stay in the room. As his adversaries aimed at him, Scott pointed the Beretta upwards and fired twice, one bullet hitting each of two fluorescent light bulbs. Both light bulbs exploded and total darkness overtook the room. The men fired, but their bullets only tore through the locked door because Scott was already gone.

They reasoned they could've ran up to the door in order to unlock it, but that would've given their opponent too much time to take a shot at them. Instead, each man withdrew a powerful flashlight and held it in his left hand while holding the weapon in his right. Scott's two targets could see each other because of the source of the flashlight beams, the only person they could not see was the ninja. Suddenly, the darkness in the room seemed to engulf the first man because he just vanished into the black background, although his flashlight beam kept shining ahead. Panicked, the second man turned his flashlight towards his partner in time to hear a sharp, breaking noise. By the time he was able to find his partner with his beam of light, which was only one second later, the darkness which had engulfed that one vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. His partner's flashlight beam next fell forward and the man could see him dead on the floor. Feeling fear, the second man screamed and began to twist quickly around at random, his flashlight pointing light in his left hand and the automatic weapon firing in his right. Without any warning, his firearm was cleanly pulled out of his hand even though it was firing wildly at the time. The next feeling the man was made aware of was that of the ninja wrapping a hand around his throat. The man screamed and tried to fight out of the grip, but as he screamed, the ninja took advantage of the situation. The man felt the muzzle of his own automatic weapon being placed into his mouth. He had no time to react as the ninja squeezed the trigger of the weapon and sent all the remaining bullets piercing the back of his head.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya awoke with what felt like a headache but soon disappeared as she opened her eyes and saw the ceiling of the motel room. It took her a few seconds to remember where she was before she quickly sat up in bed.

"Scott!", she cried out at herself, "He's there alone!".

She pushed the blanket off and jumped out of bed before heading out the door in her own turn.

Once home, she grabbed the uniform she had kept ever since she returned from Israel. She quickly wore the black tank top along with a shoulder strap, black pants and boots before she grabbed her Glock and made sure it was loaded. Realizing it was chilly outside, she also took her dark gold-colored jacket. It annoyed her that she had to set the pistol down to wear it, but she did. She zipped the jacket at the front about two thirds of the way to the top and also took time out to tie her hair into a tail at the back of her head. She then gripped the handle of the weapon again. She was soon out the door on her way to the corner of Dlane and Claridge.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Finally finding the building proved to be harder than she thought, but the bullet holes exiting out of the automatic double-door gave it away. Having the Glock in a shoulder strap under her jacket, she walked up to the exact middle of the automatic double-door so when it opened, it would open evenly on both her sides. Unfortunately, the bullets that had pierced the double-door must have affected the mechanism to open the right half of it because only the left door opened.

"Jeez", she commented as she walked forward and had to squeeze past it, unlike the cool entrance she was aiming for.

She withdrew the Glock as she saw the reception of the eight corpses.

After examining the hallway to make sure his memories guided him correctly, the ninja stealthily made his way towards the elevator. He knew that pressing the button for the first floor while the elevator was on the first floor would take him to the bunker below. He also knew heavily armed guards were stationed at the entrance of the elevator once underground. He didn't like the fact that only two people had come to the aid of the distress call from the lobby. Realizing there was a chance that he was already spotted and was expected to walk into a trap once in the bunker, he stepped up to the elevator. It opened by itself without him having to call for it.

As Scott was about to enter through its inviting doors, his keen ears caught the sound of footsteps behind him. Perhaps the Black Dragons members weren't preparing an intricate ambush for him, he told himself, perhaps they were just incompetent. Gripping the handle of the Beretta with both hands as it pointed towards the floor, he walked towards the source of noise, making sure he made no noise himself as he moved. He soon reached a left turn in the hallway and conceived that the person or persons were just around the corner. The ninja twisted around into the left turn as he leveled both hands at arm's length in front of his shoulders, ready to blow away whoever was standing in front of him.

Scott instantly bent his elbows vertically upwards so the handgun would point towards the ceiling. He did so because he had found himself staring at Sonya from about five yards away as she had him in the sight of her Glock. She lowered her weapon a fraction of a second after his reaction. Scott's next movement was to pull his mask off with his left hand, although it still hung to the outfit from his neck.

"What are you doing here?", he snapped at her, staring her in the eyes.

"I'm following you", she told him, "You may need my help".

Scott didn't answer, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad to see her.

"By the way", Sonya continued, walking towards him, "I owe you this".

With that, she turned her right hand into a fist, twisted to her left and punched him in the jaw. The strike was so fast that Scott never saw the hit coming. His face snapped towards his right shoulder.

"Feel better?", he uncomfortably asked afterwards.

"Yes!", she snapped, pointing her right index at him, "Who the hell do you think you are by deciding when I can take chances and when not?".

Scott didn't answer again, only kept staring at her, reminding her they were in hostile territory, so she lowered her voice.

"If that's how you treat the person that you're in love with, I'd hate to see how you plan to treat this guy that you have a score to settle with", she commented.

"Well, if you stick around, you'll find out", he let her know as he turned and headed back towards the elevator.

"By the way, why do you always wear the mask?", she reminded him his face was still exposed, indicating the punch to his head made them even again, and thus friendly.

"It feels better when I'm on assignment", he answered while only staring ahead as they neared the elevator.

The elevator door opened like before and both stepped inside, turning around to face the door for when it closed. The inside of large elevator was a square with each side being close to five yards long.

"You know, I wish we had you on our side during the tournament against Shang Tsung", she told him as the door closed, "And what's more is that I never thanked you for the roses".

Scott said nothing. He only turned his face to her and smiled as he put his mask back on.

"Who _are_ you looking for?", she asked as he pressed the button for the floor they were on presently.

"He's the chief Black Dragons assassin", he repeated what he had told her in the motel room, "He's named Alloy. It's funny, actually. The fact that they didn't send him after you proves that they didn't think you were their top enemy. You weren't worth the trouble. That shows how expendable their leader is".

"I guess I should be thankful", she commented as the elevator took them to the lower level.

"This might be a trap, so please brace yourself", the ninja advised as he flattened his back against the right side of the elevator wall next to the door.

Sonya copied his actions as the elevator came to a smooth stop. They both gripped the handle of their weapon hard in anticipation. Instead of the door opening and seeing a number of armed guards, smoke was shot into the elevator from a small, almost invisible, tube in the ceiling. It caught both Scott and Sonya off-guard as they started coughing and felt tears coming down their eyes. They quickly recognized the use of tear gas from their days in the military. They remembered that they should not rub their eyes no matter how bad they burned. In the military, unfortunately, they were being told not to rub their eyes as they rushed to install their gas masks or to get outside. There were no exits in the elevator and certainly no gas masks to use.

Both partners' stamina kept them on their feet long after most others would've been screaming and lying on the floor exhausted. But the tear gas was coming incessantly into the elevator while their endurance was limited. Sonya gasped as she finally dropped the handgun and bent down, gripping her throat and trying hard to stay alert even though her energy was quickly being used up. With some fight still left in him, Scott faced the door of the elevator and sent a powerful front kick into it in the hopes of breaking it. The door proved to be tougher than he had thought as a second front kick barely dented it. The ninja next leveled his Beretta 92F and passionately squeezed the trigger until all the remaining bullets had torn into the door. The elevator door was definitely damaged as he dropped the handgun and tried to execute a third front kick, but by this time his strength was just about gone. Scott gasped and fell backwards also.

Just then, the door of the elevator opened and at least some of the gas was forced out. Realizing it, Scott and Sonya looked up, trying to force themselves back to their feet. The first two people to enter the inside of elevator were two ninjas dressed exactly like Scott, except they also wore a small gas mask. The size of the gas masks indicated the amount of air in them was very limited, so the two ninjas' task was to only last a short time. Pulling herself back up, Sonya saw the first ninja and, in her debilitated mind, thought the ninja with gas mask was Scott. She thus didn't attack and was surprised when he struck her with a straight kick to the face. She staggered backwards and slammed into the rear wall of the elevator, still not understanding why Scott would attack her.

"Stop! Don't!", she tried to use her arms to shield her upper body, feeling confused.

The ninja closed in on her and used his gloved fist to deliver a massive punch to the area between her left ear and left eye. The blow hurt as she involuntarily staggered towards the floor, multiplying the effect of the gas, but she finally realized this person was not Scott. Barely being able to see in front of her, she stood up and swung into the air with a scream. The ninja had easily stepped backwards to avoid her strike as she targeted the blurry and vertical black color she saw in front of her. She moved towards the color, knowing she was at a serious disadvantage. Despite the exhausting effect of the gas, she twisted to her left and sent her right ankle in the direction of the top of the black color. The ninja ducked as her leg sailed overhead. He then stood and delivered an uppercut that knocked her out. Sonya fell unconscious and her back slammed against the wall again. She slowly sank towards the floor, although she didn't know that.

During her fight with the first ninja, Scott had jumped up only to receive a sharp kick to the stomach from the second ninja. Although he would've been able to recover fast under the usual circumstances, the effect from the gas forced him to bend down, gasping for breath. The second ninja next delivered a roundhouse kick aimed at his head. The back of that one's ankle crashed into the left side of his head and sent him towards the right wall of the elevator. Trying to pull himself back up, he turned to his left to try to see the second ninja. Instead, his worn-out eyes saw the first ninja as he delivered the uppercut into Sonya's chin. Scott ignored the second ninja as that one closed in against him and did something that his adversary did not expect at all. Still alert enough to feel enraged, Scott took a step forward with his left foot, twisted to his left and executed a flying kick towards the first ninja. His extended right leg smashed into the first ninja's left arm because that one was still staring at Sonya as she sank to the floor. The first ninja unexpectedly found himself flying towards the left wall of the elevator and crashed hard into it. The impact loosened his gas mask and he knew he would be in trouble if Scott struck again since he began feeling the effect of the tear gas also. Scott stood tall in front of the first ninja despite the burn he felt in his face. He realized his adversary had just lost his precious advantage with the reduced effect of the gas mask. As he gripped the first ninja by the collar with his left hand, ready to punch with his right, the second ninja delivered a severe blow to the back of his head from behind. Scott's durability proved to be inefficient to cope with the latest punishment and he saw darkness and passed out...

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya opened her eyes to find herself in the middle of what Scott had described as the large underground bunker beneath the building. Her eyes still hurt a little when they remained open, but she told herself that it was nothing compared to what she had felt in the elevator. Her hands were handcuffed behind her as her arms were wrapped around a relatively thin concrete column that extended from the floor into the ceiling. It was the column which had somehow kept her standing while she was unconscious. She scanned the area in search of Scott and found him soon, restrained as she was about ten yards away and with his mask off. He was awake as he stared intently ahead and listened to the proud speech that an unknown young man was giving him. The eyes of people in the area were on Scott and the stranger, and there were about twenty men overall. The two ninjas who had overpowered her and Scott were standing apart from the general crowd, possibly keeping their eyes on the closed doorway. Perhaps the stranger talking was the new Black Dragons head, Sonya did not know. What she did know was that her chin and teeth hurt a lot.

"Oh, look, sleeping beauty awakens", someone remarked with sarcasm when he saw her move and momentarily drew everyone's attention to her.

Most of the occupants turned back to the speaker and Scott after looking at her for a split second. The man was important enough to have them stay completely quiet, she realized. Sonya decided to listen to what he said in order to find out for herself.

"Procedure told us to evacuate this building and move somewhere else after one of our best assassins was missing in action", the man told Scott with a smile, "But we waited here because we guessed you'd be coming. Either you or at least someone who was using your information. The fact that it's you makes it even better, we don't have to worry about who else out there the information is being passed into".

"Really?", Scott questioned, "If you were expecting me, why did you have such a lame defense in the lobby upstairs?".

"Those guys were nothing!", the man laughed as some of the men in the room chuckled, "They were expendable! You honestly thought that was the best we could throw at you?".

With that, the man sent his left fist into Scott's stomach, desiring to inflict as much pain as possible by himself. Sonya inadvertently recoiled her head back as Scott was punched. Her partner coughed as a result, looking downwards.

"That was for betraying my father!", Scott's young attacker spat to his face.

"Your _father_?", Scott asked, feeling confused and not letting know that he wished to rip the young man apart.

"Crane, you bastard!", the man slapped him across the cheek.

"Oh, _Crane's_ kid", Scott commented, "I was wondering where you got your ugly looks".

Heavy footsteps were heard approaching from the direction of the closed doorway. Everyone, including the assumed new head, turned their attention towards it a few seconds before it was opened from the other side. The next sight Sonya saw enlarged her eyes, although Scott wasn't surprised since he remembered the occupant from the clone's memories. A six and a half foot tall Alloy walked into the bunker and closed the door behind him as the two ninjas respectfully bowed. He didn't return the bow as he walked towards Scott.

"AFTER EVERYTHING WE DID FOR HIM, _THIS_ IS HOW HE REPAYS US", Alloy spoke in his usually high-pitched voice, "BY WORKING AGAINST US".

"I'm not your assassin, you quack!", Scott raised his voice, trying to show as much verbal disrespect as possible, "I'm his host, the original one! I'm glad you at least remember your assassin, you helped screw him up".

"Then I was right", Crane's son smiled again, looking at the people around him, "He _did_ die. I just couldn't understand how he could've gone on without our antibiotics".

"Yeah", Scott confirmed, "Your assassin chose to die instead of coming to you losers for help. So I guess he had some class after all".

Scott's final insult finally wiped the smile off the new leader's face.

"Take what you need from these two and then kill them", that one turned to Alloy, "Make them suffer for as long as you can".

He stopped briefly.

"All nonessential personnel, evacuate as we had planned", he announced to everyone.

"What? Take what you need?", Scott repeated, confused, "What is that supposed to mean?".

"Oh, that's right", the leader sarcastically answered, "This is something your clone didn't know so he couldn't have told you. We're gonna drill through your memory, both yours and your pretty friend there, to see who else knows what you two know about us. Of course, as we do, our machine might turn your brains into spaghetti, but that's a chance _we're_ willing to take".

He then clapped his hands twice fast.

"Come on, people", he raised his voice to be heard, "Set up the machine and shut off all nonessential electricity sources so we can give it all the juice possible".

He walked away as he turned and looked happily into Scott's dark face.

"This shouldn't take long", he said.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The two ninjas had released Sonya's and Scott's hands from the handcuffs and had their automatic weapon trained on the intruders' backs as they were led away from the main bunker room. Alloy walked ahead with the two outsiders following him as the ninjas followed them. The Black Dragons assassins were confident the two prisoners would not resist now because, aside from the firearms, Alloy would've destroyed them on the spot if they did. Both Sonya and Scott were pushed into the same, four yards by six yards, rectangular cell before the solid steel door was closed and locked behind them. Crane walked up to Alloy as that one and the two ninjas were guarding the door from outside.

"Why did you put them in together?", he asked his chief assassin, "It seems to me that the best way to hurt that son of a bitch is to separate him from his pretty little friend and letting him hear her scream".

"THAT IS _EXACTLY_ WHY, SIR", Alloy respectfully answered, "HE WOULD RESIST AND CAUSE TROUBLE IF SHE WAS SEPARATED FROM HIM, PERHAPS MAKING US USE DEADLY FORCE. YOU DO NOT WANT HIM DEAD JUST YET. OR DO YOU?".

"No, not yet", the leader understood, "He needs to be alive for the memory drill to work, unfortunately".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Inside the holding cell, Scott was seated with his back against the wall as Sonya kept pacing the floor. They couldn't hear what was said outside because of the thickness of the concrete walls.

"I'm sorry", he calmly said, staring ahead at the door.

Sonya stopped and looked down at him even though he wasn't returning her glance. She wondered what he was apologizing for. Sorry for hitting her, sorry for inadvertently telling her the address of their enemy's bunker, sorry for not being able to stop her from following him, sorry for not being able to fight back successfully against the two ninjas in the elevator?

She decided not to ask him.

"It's OK", she only answered, returning to her pace as he slowly stood up, still staring only ahead.

"Staring at the door isn't gonna get us out of here, you know", she commented as she kept pacing.

She realized she was getting scared. The Black Dragons members had them outnumbered and were planning on killing them in a painful way. To make things worse, she couldn't come up with any plans to get them out of this dilemma.

"Got any ideas?", she asked him next as he still stood straight.

Scott only shook his head, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Me neither", she told him.

There was silence.

"Look", she spoke up, "If we're gonna die, I'm glad we're at least together. It's better than being separated and killed alone".

"Same here", he stated.

"Would you look at me?", her voice carried the slightest hint of panic in it.

He turned his face towards her direction. As she locked eyes with him, she told herself that it was nice to see him without the ninja mask on. Sonya saw someone who was calm, who at least seemed to be completely under control. The clone's experiences had definitely changed him, it still remained to be seen as to whether it was for better or worse. She was sorry she might not have enough time to find out. She also saw something else in his eyes, though. It was the desire for blood and vengeance. A look that was sadistic towards the enemy. It was rather scary to look at , but for some strange reason, she liked it.

"What a way to go, you and me", she whispered only loud enough for him to hear.

"Oh!", she exclaimed next as she placed her arms around his neck and passionately kissed him on the lips.

Scott had placed his arms around her as soon as she had initiated the embrace.

It was only after several seconds of kissing that she stopped and realized that both her legs were bent at a ninety degree angle at the knees, so her feet weren't touching the floor. Scott alone was holding her up as he wore no expression on his face. With her arms still around him, she withdrew her face from his.

"You have a strange way of showing people you care about them", she told him, "You know that?".

She was happy enough to smile, despite what was taking place outside of the holding cell.

"Put me down", she commented next.

Scott looked down at her feet before looking at her again.

"You just need to lower your feet", he let her know, "They'll touch the ground".

"Oh", she secured the bottom of her feet on the floor as they separated.

She wasn't sure, but she thought she saw him grin as she let him go.

"At least the entire day wasn't a total loss", he said as he smiled.

It was the same kind of smile she had seen on his face the night she had come home carrying the roses.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next several minutes was spent seated on the floor and discussing everything from her present job to how long she actually lasted when she challenged Goro's specter. They held hands throughout the entire conversation, as if accepting the fact that this would be their last day.

It didn't take long for the two ninjas to open the door from outside with their weapons at the ready. Without a word, the assassins motioned with their firearms that they were to be led out of the cell. Scott quickly stood first and made sure to help her up to her feet.

They were led back to the area where they had been held previously as Alloy led their way and the ninjas followed again. The place looked smaller this time around. First, there was a machine which looked closest to what Sonya would describe as an electric chair, only brawnier. Behind that was an incinerator which had a large square window about three feet above the floor, showing the raging fire that burned inside. Sonya and Scott guessed that placing a body inside would've turned it to ash in a matter of seconds. Only the new Crane and three of his men remained behind, along with Alloy and the two ninjas.

"So this is it, huh?", Scott asked out loud, hoping to buy some time as he turned and faced the two ninjas, "This is how it ends? Are you two supposed _ninjas_ so afraid of us that you want us killed while you have those fancy guns staring at our backs?".

If the ninjas were insulted, Scott couldn't know because of their masks. But Alloy clearly didn't like the tone of his voice. The cyborg turned around and sent his fist into Scott's spine, bringing him down to his knees with a scream.

"Son of a bitch!", Sonya blurted out towards the cyborg as she came to Scott's aid.

"What are you doing?", she whispered as she helped him stand up.

"I have to do this, whether I die or not", he whispered back as he stood up straight and gently pushed her aside.

"How about it?", he stared at the first ninja, the one who had knocked out Sonya in the elevator, "You hurt my friend here and I don't like that. You're gonna hide behind your weapon forever?".

The first ninja looked at Alloy, nonverbally asking for his approval. The cyborg nodded his head and the first ninja gave his weapon to his partner.

"What's going on?", Crane finally spoke up, alarmed that the planned procedure wasn't being followed.

"THERE WAS A CHALLENGE MADE TO ONE OF MY STUDENTS", Alloy explained, "HIS HONOR DEMANDS THAT HE ACCEPTS".

"What?", the leader exclaimed, "Get serious! What do you think this...".

"DO NOT INTERRUPT!", Alloy cut him off, indicating the leader might not be much more than a mere puppet.

"You're losing me, Scotty", Sonya whispered, "What're you doing? You don't have to do this for me".

"This isn't about you", he whispered, pointing at the first ninja who was readying himself, "It's not even about him. He's supposed to be my equivalent but Alloy's student. Alloy is chief assassin and I want to finish him. He trains _all_ the assassins; he trained and virtually brainwashed my clone".

"You wanna challenge Alloy?!", her eyes widened, trying to keep her voice down.

"Yes, and the only way to do it is to drill through his student first".

"Don't", she sharply advised.

The second ninja walked up to Sonya from behind and quickly handcuffed her left wrist before dragging her several steps and locking the second half of the device to the raging incinerator. It was hotter than the hottest day of the summer as she stood next to it, but her current mind was on Scott as he walked up towards the fist ninja. They both bowed from five yards away.

The first ninja executed a swift flying kick with his right leg, but Scott was ready. As his clone had done with Sonya on Shang Tsung's island, he sent his upper body to his left and held up his right arm horizontally at the shoulder, bracing for the impact. Sure enough, when the ninja passed the air where he used to be, his forearm slammed into that one's chest and knocked him down. The ninja jumped up to his feet, unrelented. He sent a front kick aimed at Scott's chest and Scott violently slapped his foot away by waving his right forearm at the elbow.

Scott sent a massive right jab aimed at the ninja's throat, which that one blocked. As he did, though, Scott twisted to the right and delivered a second massive left punch into his face. The ninja staggered to his left, still holding on to his concentration.

"You OK, ninja?", Scott asked, almost feeling concerned.

His adversary responded by running towards him, ready to strike. Before he got a chance, Scott twisted to his left and sent his right leg into that one's chest. The ninja was abruptly stopped as his body recoiled upwards into the air. As he came back down on the floor, Scott sent a second straight and higher kick into his face, knocking him backwards on the floor. The ninja was staring at the ceiling as Scott walked up to him, squatted next to him and pressed down on his chest with his palm.

"Stay down!", he whispered, "My fight isn't with you. I don't want to keep hurting you, so just walk away from this".

The ninja clearly didn't believe him because he grabbed Scott by the collar of his ninja outfit and tossed him overhead, not wanting the intruder to be standing near when he tried to stand. Scott flew through the air in a semicircle and gracefully landed on his feet. Scott's adversary next jumped up and charged at him again. This time, he was greeted by a front kick to his chin. Scott's shoe slammed into his chin and sent him flying ten feet into the air in a semicircle before he landed on his back once more. Scott walked up to him to offer one more time.

"That's _enough_!", he exclaimed out loud, not caring who heard.

He offered his left hand to the downed ninja, leaving his right hand free in case that one tried to fight back. Fortunately for the ninja, he gripped Scott's hand and pulled up to his feet. Once standing, the ninja walked away from his victor because he knew that one could've easily killed him but didn't.

"And get her away from that incinerator!", Scott barked from behind him.

The first ninja yielded and loosened Sonya's wrist from the handcuffs that chained her to the hot incinerator. She was glad to be away from it but now knew that Alloy's challenge was about to follow. She was right because Scott was busy pointing at the cyborg next.

"COME ON!", Scott screamed, "YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU, YOU UGLY SON OF A BITCH!! COME OOOOON!!".

"Scott, no!", Sonya raised her voice, addressing him.

She was worried because there must have been a good reason why Alloy was the chief Black Dragons assassin. There was a chance Scott would lose to him.

"I said pipe down", Scott told her before turning his attention to the cyborg again, this time calmer, "Come on, loser, I'm waiting".

It was Alloy's pleasure to accept his challenge, although doing so might mean not having him around for the memory drill. Still, his kind of disrespect was what the cyborg hated more than anything else. With Sonya, the new leader and his students watching, he stepped towards Scott and stood several yards away while his opponent looked up incessantly into his eyes.

"No, stop this!", Sonya blurted out, stepping towards them both, "There has _got_ to be another way!".

The first ninja restrained her. She was about to fight back, looking for his annihilation for the way he treated her in the elevator. She didn't get the chance because Scott spoke to Crane without taking his eyes off Alloy.

"If you have any power whatsoever, prove it", he pointed to the new boss without breaking his eye contact with the cyborg, "Kindly escort the lady out of here".

Crane didn't like any of what he was seeing, but he knew he'd upset Alloy if he interrupted the fight. He thus bowed his head slightly. With that, the second ninja joined the first and they both grabbed Sonya from behind, one restraining each arm.

"What?! Get your fucking hands off me!!", she was surprised as she irately addressed Scott, "You can't do this!! I won't let you!! You son of a bitch!! I'll make you pay for this!!".

She was still resisting as both ninjas dragged her away. She was trying to fight back because she was worried about Scott and didn't want his death on her conscience. As both assassins brought her out of the door, she realized she had to calm down in order to do anything effective. Looking down at the uniform of the second ninja, she realized he had her Glock on his person. It was possible he had Scott's Beretta also, but she didn't care about that presently. While still being forced down the hallway towards the holding cell, she pushed towards her left with all her strength. The shove slammed the ninja on her left into the wall, momentarily releasing his grip on her left arm. A moment was all she needed because she pulled her left arm free and sent her left palm into the nose of the ninja on the right. Sonya then pulled away from them and ran a few steps ahead before turning around in a fighting stance. Both ninjas could've pulled out a firearm and shot her, but they knew that Crane wanted her alive for the memory drill, and she knew it also.

"So, I guess I'm supposed to be scared because you're bigger, huh?", she commented as both ninjas charged at once.

Sonya delivered a front kick into the first ninja's stomach, sending him staggering backwards in a moan. The second ninja was upon her as that took place and punched her in the jaw, worsening the pain in her teeth. She slammed into the side of the hall, dazed, as she gathered her concentration against him, trying not to lose her temper. Before the second ninja could strike again, she punched him in the jaw in the same way and he staggered backwards just as she saw the first ninja coming back towards her. Acting on instinct alone and hoping that it was enough, she sent a high right front kick into his face. The first ninja's head snapped back as he staggered backwards again.

Her adrenaline supplying her with sharp energy, Sonya next saw the second ninja running back towards her as the first one was faltering away. Ready for him, she flipped upside down on her hands and placed both her ankles on either side of his upper chest. Surprised by a move that he had never seen before, the second ninja flew in an almost semicircle as she leg tossed him over her. While he was a short distance from the floor, her feet released him and he flew in a downward-aimed straight line. He landed in pain several steps behind her as she flipped back on her feet. The second ninja still managed to stand back up, determined not to be beaten. This time, the Black Dragons members thought they had the advantage since the first assassin was in front of Sonya while the second one was behind her. They rushed towards her at the same time, believing she could not fight back against them both. Sonya turned around and, seeing the second ninja close enough, flipped upside down on her hands again, getting ready for yet another leg toss.

The second ninja tried to stop, but was running too fast. She gripped his chest like she had done before and tossed him over her again. Cursing himself for not expecting it, the second ninja found himself flying over her. The next thing he felt was his head slamming into the first ninja's chest. The first ninja was thrown backwards as his rush forward was violently cut short and he fell on his back unconscious as his partner landed on top of him. Coming back on her feet, Sonya realized the second ninja was still moving as he lay on top of the first one. Without giving it a second thought, she kicked him in the head and finally stopped his movements as his head sharply flew upwards. She then squatted next to them both and sent her right hand into the second assassin's uniform. She withdrew her Glock within seconds and stood back up. Hoping her partner was still alive, she ran back to the spot from which she had been dragged away from.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott, in the meantime, heard heavy metal music flooding his mind as he was in his fighting stance against Alloy. The music in his head wasn't drowned as he screamed.

Scott executed a powerful flying kick aimed at Alloy's chest. The cyborg didn't even bother getting out of the way and simply got hit, taking two heavy steps back, his sparkling eyes more menacing than ever. Coming back on the floor, Scott saw him as he was about to swing. He twisted to his left and kicked the cyborg in the side of the knee. In one motion, he then twisted to his right and sent a straight kick into the other knee. Not dazed, Alloy swung with his left arm aimed at the ninja's head and only met air as the human ducked.

Twisting to his left again, Scott sent his right foot into his adversary's stomach, still looking for a vulnerable spot. That one didn't even bend forward, thus Scott was not able to take advantage of it. Not troubled, the ninja struck again before the cyborg could organize his own offensive. A roundhouse kick that was strong enough to decapitate an ordinary person slammed into Alloy's head and knocked him down on his side. Scott involuntarily gave out a cheer as he saw the result, the music carrying his momentum.

Alloy was back on his feet within a second, so Scott took several quick steps away from him. Once having enough distance between them, Scott flew towards him with his right leg extended again. The result was again that his opponent took two steps back. Stepping away from him, Scott realized this tactic was not working and decided to try something new. Wanting to finish the fight, Alloy rushed at him. Scott ran forward also, appearing as if they were about to collide. As he was reaching the cyborg, though, he slid down on the ground and slipped past him from in between his legs like a batter going for a home run. He then stood up from behind his adversary before that one was able to turn around and kicked him in the back of the knee. As Alloy came down on his knees, Scott punched him in the back of the head and sent him crashing down on his stomach.

His adrenaline level and spirit were high as he witnessed Alloy getting back up, completely unhurt, for the second time. Scott would've attacked him again, but by that time Sonya had reached the door that separated their area from the hallway leading to the holding cell. Seeing both fighters still standing and not wanting Scott to get hurt, she aimed at Alloy as she gripped the Glock with both hands at arm's length in front of her face.

"Ride's over, everybody off", she told herself as she began pulling the trigger.

One by one, all twenty 9mm rounds exited her handgun and entered Alloy's body. The cyborg shook violently as his shiny metallic surface was ravaged by the bullets. After all twenty bullets had done their damage, Alloy seemed as if he was about to fall on the ground, completely destroyed. Scott twisted himself to his right, sending a final roundhouse kick into the cyborg's head, but his broken opponent fell on the ground before the back of Scott's ankle reached it. Thus, Scott's leg only met air as Alloy fell down in pieces.

As that happened, the leader of the Black Dragons looked devastated at the loss of his best assassin. He knew he couldn't hurt Sonya and Scott physically, but he didn't have to. Two of the three men with him quickly withdrew tranquilizer guns and simultaneously aimed at Scott and Sonya. Two darts were fired. Before either of them could react, Scott felt a stinging pain in the left part of his chest and Sonya felt it in her left upper arm. Both dropped to the floor again, wishing they had been able to get out of the way.

Scott and Sonya were alert within minutes as they found themselves handcuffed from behind to the thin concrete columns again.

"I wanted you both to be awake to feel the pain", Crane announced, "That's why I made sure the tranquilizer's effects were very short".

He calmly walked over to where Sonya was restrained as one of his men was sending thousands of volts of electricity through the memory drilling machine. As long as he was waiting, the new Black Dragons leader decided he might as well have some fun. He turned his left hand into a fist and punched her in the stomach with it. The blow knocked the wind out of her as she gasped and her upper body was roughly forced forward. She heard Scott pulling on his wrists from behind him and growling like an angry cat as she coughed a few times.

Enjoying the scene, and confident that Scott could not break the handcuffs, Crane gripped her chin with his right hand and coarsely pushed her head up until the back of her head touched the column. With her upright, he punched her in the stomach again, forcing her torso forward one more time. Scott growled louder at him as his continual pull against the handcuffs cut his wrists and blood began to flow into his hands. Fighting against the pain in her stomach, Sonya stood back up straight and stared into Crane with fire in her eyes. He had enough intelligence to step away from her after the second strike, for he knew she would surely try to kick him with her free legs if he didn't.

"OK, people", Crane clapped his hands as he realized the machine was ready, addressing the three members who stayed behind, "Let's do the bitch first".

"Get away from her!!", Scott barked, the blood from his wrists dripping past his hands and into the floor behind him, "IF YOU TOUCH HER, I'LL KILL YOU!! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!".

She was organizing a plan in her mind to counterattack as two of the three men approached her to loosen the handcuffs and drag her to the machine. Before that, though, Crane withdrew a long-barreled revolver, getting tired of listening to the man he still blamed for his father's death.

"He needs to be alive for the memory drill to work", he looked at his men, "He doesn't need to be healthy, right?".

When one man shook his head in agreement, Crane turned to Scott from a few yards away while that one still stared at him with a grim, dangerous look. Crane then pulled the trigger once and shot the ninja in the stomach. Sonya gasped from the sound of the gunshot as she next saw Scott bleeding and sinking closer to the floor while his facial expression told her he was fighting to stay conscious. Her jaw had dropped open and her plan was momentarily forgotten as Scott seemed to be passing out. As the two members came closer, however, she forced herself to lock his image out of her mind and calmed down, knowing it was the only chance of either one of them getting out alive.

The two members got to within two steps of her when one of them withdrew a key for the handcuffs while the other withdrew a semiautomatic pistol much like her Glock. Instead of having to use the key to loosen the handcuffs, as they had expected, they saw Sonya opening her arms apart in one motion from behind the column. The handcuffs were still locked around her right wrist, but the left half of the handcuffs was loose.

"Surprise!", she smiled as she brought her arms up on either side of her shoulders.

"Trash'em", Scott managed to blurt out as he could feel the enveloping darkness getting nearer.

Sonya rushed ahead with vengeance on her mind before either Crane or the member with the semiautomatic could react. Her first action was to send her palm into the chin of the man with the key to the handcuffs. That one's head snapped upwards and back as he was forced a step backwards. With one, smooth motion, Sonya then gripped the head of the armed member with both hands and swiftly broke his neck before that one could even pull on the trigger. She reached down and grabbed his pistol as he descended towards the floor. With his weapon in her right grasp, she saw Crane aiming his revolver towards her. She gripped the neck of the dazed member with the key with her left hand and pulled him towards her. She quickly positioned him in front of her and wrapped her left arm around his neck just as Crane was getting ready to pull the trigger. The man enclosed in her left arm tried unsuccessfully to get out of her grip but she proved to be the stronger of the two.

Sonya next saw the third man who had been standing near the machine rush at her from the left. She retained her left arm around the man with the key for support and kicked out her left leg. Her foot hit the third member in the stomach and that one staggered back towards the machine as Crane opened fire. A bullet tore into the left side of the chest of the man held in front of her and he convulsed while still in the grasp. She aimed towards Crane with her right hand and returned fire before that one was able to pull the trigger again and a 9mm round inflicted a fatal wound in his forehead. Crane fell on the floor dead without a sound.

Sonya let go of the second member who had been shot in front of her and he dropped towards the floor. She turned partly and aimed her weapon at the third and last member of the Black Dragons under Crane. He had been recovering from her kick to his stomach as he stood next to the machine and in front of the incinerator.

"Say 'hi' to Kano, tough guy", she told him as she had the weapon's sight on him as it was extended in front of her face.

She kissed her left hand and then blew the kiss towards the last member before shooting him once. The last member was thrown backwards under the impact of the bullet. He staggered towards the incinerator and his upper body was pushed into the large, open window. He pulled his torso back out as it was engulfed by the raging fire inside. As Sonya watched him burn, he took two steps forward and crashed down on his knees before falling on his stomach.

"That's a fatality if I ever saw one", she commented to herself as she was finally able to head towards Scott.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It had been difficult to say the least as she had helped the injured Scott into the elevator, then outside to her car and had driven the car to the hospital. Her dark yellow jacket was stained in several spots with his blood as this scene eerily reminded her of the occurrences in the House of Representatives. The 9mm Glock was lying empty on the back seat since she had tossed it there after positioning him in the vehicle. She had been trying to talk to him steadily all the way to the hospital, trying to keep him awake as he kept pressing his hand into his wound. He hadn't been responding for the last two blocks towards the hospital, trying to keep himself from screaming as the pain seemed to get the better of him.

"I need some help here, please", she said out loud as she helped him into the emergency room, his left arm wrapped around her shoulder.

She was pulling on his left forearm with her left hand while her right hand supported the right side of his body to the best of her abilities. The unit in the hospital was fortunately fast to respond with as stretcher as Scott was placed on it and quickly pulled away from her. His left hand had gripped her own as he was placed on the stretcher, she was thus forced to let him go while he was taken away. After he was gone, The only thing she was staring at was the large amount of blood that had moved from his hand to hers.

"Hang on, Scotty", she said to herself more than to him, unsure as to whether he could even hear her any more, "Be strong".

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Feeling worse than her jacket looked, she tried to find a payphone. She knew she needed to find a pin or something resembling one to loosen the second half of the handcuffs from her right wrist. She also wanted to call home to find out if her father, Johnny or Liu were there because she really wished they were here. She found the payphone, picked up the receiver, put in a quarter and dialed the number while her heart felt like it was in her stomach. She counted the rings, feeling her throat tighten up.

Liu and Johnny had followed Princess Kitana into the secret cave that Outworlders who agreed with her beliefs used. It was handled as several different designs. The cave was where they met when they needed to pass information to each other that they did not wish the mutants or their new master to know about it. It was also used as a safe haven where they could meet whenever they were separated from each other during an ambush by their opponents. The opening of the cave was large enough for all three to be able to walk into it standing completely straight.

"Please, make yourselves at home", Kitana guided the two kombatants deeper inside as the natural light from outside quickly dimmed and the ground under their feet seemed to get more uneven.

"I know it is not much, but it serves our purpose during these trying times", she continued as she reached for an unlit torch that was positioned on one side of the rough cave.  
Kitana flicked her right thumb and index fingers together as she held the unlit torch in her left hand. Since the darkness in the cave had already overcome them, she reasoned they needed some artificial light to continue. The first snap of her thumb and index finger had no result, but the second flick produced a spark of fire that seemed to have her two fingers as its root. With Johnny and Liu pleasantly perplexed, Kitana touched the top of the torch with her two right fingers. She did so without wasting any time to admire the fire like the Earth kombatants were doing because she knew it would only last for a few seconds.

"This way", she murmured quietly as she pointed deeper into the cavern with her face.

"You're gonna have to tell me how you did that", Johnny commented about the fire that had originated from her fingertips.

They were forced to duck a little as the ceiling of the cave came closer to the ground under their feet. Kitana led them into the heart of the cave and they reached their destination after about two more minutes of hiking towards it. The large inside room of the natural cavern had a ceiling that was several times their own height and was roughly round on the ground. Half a dozen lit torches decorated the primitive wall and provided the only source of light for all the people inside. The approximately twenty men and women inside instantly turned their attention towards Liu and Johnny when they saw that Princess Kitana had not returned alone.

"These are friends from the realm of Earth", Kitana announced with a friendly smile as she pointed to the kombatants, "They're here to help".

She positioned her torch on the wall just like the previous six that were attached to it before she turned her attention to calming the fears she knew the Outworlders were experiencing. After all the battles won and lost against the mutants, those who fought by her side had grown wary of all who weren't exactly like them. The suspicion was also aimed at those who weren't from their own realm, even though they may not be mutants themselves.

"Liu Kang and Johnny Cage", she pointed at each respectively, introducing them, "They were the ones who destroyed Shang Tsung's scheme during the original tournament. Since part of that tournament was held here, they are already somewhat familiar with our realm, but they could still use some guidance from the natives".

"What's in this for you?", a young male Outworlder sharply eyed the two kombatants as he sat on the ground facing the entrance from which they had emerged.

"Just trying to help out a friend", Liu calmly responded.

"We _are_ on the same side. They did not have to come to us", Kitana addressed the member with a soothing voice before turning to the Earth habitants, "That is Pyro. He's a very good man. It will just take some time to get used to outsiders, that is all".

Liu suspected from her tone of voice that she was looked upon as the leader of these people and not only another member of the gathering. Pyro's reaction to her words was to somewhat change his facial expression as his eyes were fixed on Liu and his partner. Liu also saw that it was as if Kitana was seen as being wiser and perhaps even a parent figure to all the members. That actually made sense to the White Lotus monk since Kitana's great age would've given her experience that everyone else just didn't have.

"If you wish to help us, then you will get your chance", Pyro stood and formally bowed, "I look forward to our encounters together".

A woman who was the same age as Pyro stood nearby.

"As do I", she told them, bowing also.

"My sister, Wreath", Pyro introduced.

"Wreath?", Johnny whispered under his breath only loud enough for him and Liu to hear as they both bowed back.

"The three of us have delivered a blow to the mutants just prior to our arrival here", Kitana was anxious to share the good news as she came closer to the middle of the natural room.

The rightful heir to the throne of Outworld began explaining in as much detail as possible how Johnny and Liu had been largely responsible for decimating the group of six mutants. She was seated on the ground in the middle of the room as the members seemed to flock around her before sitting nearby. Everyone was quiet as she remembered the battle between the three of them and six of the oppressors. Her description influenced Pyro to the point where he felt the need to speak out. It sounded as if the newcomers could be a lethal weapon for their side, and Princess Kitana was never known to exaggerate. He patiently waited until Kitana was finished talking before he addressed the Earth kombatants.

"Very impressive", Pyro commented, staring at Liu, "But how did you even know to come here?".

"Sixth sense", Johnny chuckled and responded for Liu, lightly pressing his index finger into his own forehead.

"And it's a joy to see you all still here since I've been gone for the last two days", Kitana smiled at the group again, "As always".

"My princess, we _do_ have plans as to what we feel we should do next", Pyro mentioned, pointing to a drawn strategy on the wall next to a lit torch, "It could definitely use the new help".

The news was pleasing to everyone in the cave...

The Outworlders were already getting used to having Liu and Johnny with them as they were reviewing their battle plan for their next encounter with the mutants. Liu was exchanging ideas with Pyro and Kitana, along with three other members of the team. Johnny was busy in the meantime talking to Wreath alone several steps away from them. This was taking place as other Outworlders checked their supply of weapons.

Liu stared to his right and caught a sight of Johnny as he listened to one of the other members give his ideas to Kitana. Even though he paid attention to the information, Liu was wondering to himself if Johnny was actually discussing plans with Wreath. The actor and the young lady were smiling frequently as they talked and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The White Lotus monk had no problem with the idea of his partner discussing other subjects as he was reviewing battle plans and resolved to tell him about anything he missed.

As the conversation was still proceeding, both Johnny and Liu suddenly stopped and stared at each other. Liu's movement caught Kitana's attention, as Johnny's reaction caught Wreath's.

"What's wrong, Liu?", Kitana asked, concerned.

"Did you hear that too?", Johnny asked Liu, ignoring the question since they couldn't answer it at the moment.

"Yes", Liu told him, "It originated from the entrance".

"What did?", Kitana pressed, being overcome with alarm.

"A sound", Liu tried to explain, "A faint sound".

That was all Liu got to say because mutants appeared at the entrance that he, Johnny and Kitana had used to come into the natural room. The mutants had to lower their upper bodies to a great extent to fit through the entrance way, but once inside the room, they knew they'd be able to stand. The ones who arrived raised their arms as they momentarily pointed their three-foot long blades towards the ceiling.

The mutants screamed, indicating their hunt had begun.

"Evacuate our people at once!", Kitana exclaimed as she turned to Pyro, "Use our back tunnel!".

Before she finished making her statement, the first mutant in the room had already impaled the Outworlder closest to him with his left hand. The mutant lifted his left arm and raised the quivering body of his victim on the bloody knife several feet over the ground. Still screaming, the mutant then raised his right arm as the helpless victim only shook as a foot of steel stuck out of that one's lower back. The mutant's next move was to swing his right blade at his victim's neck as the Outworlder was still in the air. The impaled man had his eyes closed and thus didn't see the right blade coming at him. The mutant's right blade cut through his first victim's neck and easily decapitated his prey. The mutant quickly pulled his left arm back and out of the Outworlder as he saw that one's head land on the ground. The headless victim fell on the ground next to his head, feeling nothing.

Johnny had witnessed the mutant's actions. The kombatant held Wreath by the hand and quickly motioned her behind him. With her out of the way, Johnny flew at the mutant in a kick. The mutant's adrenaline was high as he held his bloodied blades at the ready, looking for fresh victims. Before he got a chance to kill again, he saw the bottom of Johnny's foot coming right at his chest as that one held his right leg forward in a flying kick. The impact sent the mutant crashing back-first into the wall of the cavern. The mutant pulled himself away from the wall as others like him rushed by to get to the Outworlders. Charging towards his smaller opponent, he swung his left arm downwards, aiming for Johnny's chest. The kombatant stepped back and grabbed his left forearm. Surprising the mutant, Johnny next stepped to the right and pushed his opponent's arm down into the ground. The mutant's left blade dug deep into the ground and the mutant soon realized he could not pull it back out. After two short, failed attempts to pull the left arm free, the mutant saw Johnny turning his right hand into a fist. The mutant tried to awkwardly turn towards his opponent in order to swing his right arm, but he felt the impact of the kombatant's fist into his eyes first.

The mutant's head violently snapped back because his left blade was still buried in the ground and would not allow him to stagger backwards. Johnny next sent a low, straight kick aimed at his opponent's left wrist. His kick snapped into the mutant's wrist, sending pain through that one's arm and breaking the left blade at the base. Since the mutant was still trying to pull his left arm free at the time, having the restraining blade break suddenly was a surprise. His own effort to pull it out sent him staggering backwards as he crashed into the wall one more time. Only slightly dazed, the mutant saw Johnny as the human easily pulled his broken blade out of the ground. Not caring how the human did it, the mutant rushed at him again, confident that his remaining blade would still win the confrontation. Johnny's hands were smeared with the blood from the mutant's prey as he held the broken end of the blade while the pointy end was aimed at the mutant.

With the mutant nearing him in a hurry, Johnny let go of the blade and executed a smooth leg sweep. His ankle met the mutant's foot and knocked that one down on the ground. The actor was back up on his feet since this was a familiar move for him while the mutant was still lying on his back, caught off-guard. As his opponent also tried to grudgingly stand, Johnny picked up the broken blade and sent it into the mutant's stomach, impaling him. The mutant screamed and swung blindly with his right arm, but Johnny had already jumped back as soon as he felt the blade inserted and was thus out of range. The mutant kept screaming as he fell back down on the ground, the push against the ground forcing the blade out of him, and he lay there as he quickly bled to death.

"Princess, we must retreat!", Pyro blurted out as he saw her following Liu and moving towards the slaughter.

"No!", Kitana protested as the screaming increased, "You gather everybody and go! I will stay".

With those words, Kitana headed into the chaos, looking to act as a diversion while as many members of her group as possible were evacuated. Unknown to her, Pyro didn't follow her advice and jumped into the fight as well.

A mutant swung his right arm horizontally as he aimed it low. The blade deeply cut across the chest of an Outworlder, cutting into him almost enough to tear his torso in half. The fatally wounded man fell on the ground without being able to deliver a single hit. The mutant responsible turned to look for another victim and only saw Liu's fist flying into him. The monk had jumped up to deliver an uppercut and his fist slammed under his opponent's chin, knocking him backwards. The mutant gathered himself and charged, swinging his right arm at the aggressive opponent's head. Liu ducked and then stood as the mutant's swing twisted that one's right arm towards the left. The mutant next felt a solid straight kick into his chest before he staggered backwards again. The monk's rush to join the battle had overcome his keener senses as he and the mutant readied for another confrontation. Thus, he didn't feel the minor change in atmosphere as a second mutant reached him from behind, getting ready to swing a blade of his own.

"LIU!!", Pyro yelled out, charging towards the newcomer and the mutant who was about to attack from behind.

Pyro crashed into Liu from the right side and pushed the monk away just as the blade of the mutant sliced into the air, looking for flesh. The blade entered Pyro's chest and tore through his rib cage and lungs before exiting out of his upper back. Liu and Pyro made eye contact for only a fraction of a second before the frustrated mutant pulled the blade out of him and he quietly fell down on his stomach. Liu screamed and flykicked into the mutant who had delivered the fatal blow, aiming his right leg exceptionally high as he heard Kitana cry out after seeing Pyro go down. The bottom of his right foot slammed into that mutant's chin and sent him staggering back towards Kitana. Liu could only watch for a second as the Princess stood her ground and snapped the index finger and thumb together in both her hands. From out of nowhere, a paper fan opened in each hand as Liu charged back towards the mutant he was sparring against originally. The monk was wondering what she planned to do with a paper fan, but he could not wait around to find out and thus didn't see the result.

Princess Kitana angrily threw both fans away from her, one directly to her right and the other directly to her left. Each fan flew in a perfect semicircle that originated from her shoulders and ended at the stomach of the mutant who was staggering backwards in her direction. The fan in her left hand followed the semicircle as it flew in a curve forward and away from Kitana before it came back in front of her, where the mutant was. Guiding itself, the fan tore into the mutant's stomach from the left side because that was the point where the left semicircle ended. The fan in her left hand ripped into his left side while the fan in her right hand did the same from his right side. Both fans drove deeper into the mutant's flesh until they met each other, finally cutting him in half at the stomach. The mutant raised his arms and gave an ear-piercing scream as his upper body fell off his legs.

Kitana snapped both fingers in each hand together again and the fans vanished from the mutant's corpse and reappeared in her hands without a trace of blood on them. She next turned to see over a dozen mutants still in the natural room, with more coming in through the relatively tiny entrance. More than half her people were already dead as the ground almost seemed to be covered with a pool of the Outworlders' blood. She spotted a mutant who was about to execute one of her unconscious and bruised members since he held his right arm high over his head, readying for a downward swing. Kitana threw both fans straight ahead aimed for him. The fans glided through the air and met the base of both the mutant's blades, one above his head and the other by his side. Both blades were instantly cut off and the mutant gazed at his arms in horror as the broken blades fell on the ground on either side of him.

Feeling more fear than anything else since he couldn't remember the last time he wasn't armed with the blades, the mutant withdrew. He was about to get his comrades to finish the job for him, but Wreath had already reached his unconscious victim and was busy pulling him away from any more harm.

"WE MUST RETREAT!!", Kitana yelled out in order to be heard over the battle cries.

She knew staying there longer would mean their annihilation sooner or later because, from the collection of mutants coming in, she saw they were outnumbered. Following her guidance, one of the surviving Outworlders pulled away a tall and thin sheet of paper that was the cave's exact color and easily camouflaged into it. Behind the colored sheet was a tunnel that was almost as tall as an average human adult and less than a yard wide.

"IN! NOW!", Kitana went on, standing next to the entrance to the tunnel and signaling into it.

The six remaining Outworlders rushed into it one by one as Liu jumped about two yards into the air and sent both his legs out in a kick. Each foot slammed into the face of a mutant and both opponents were violently pushed backwards. The monk came back down on his feet and charged towards the tunnel as he passed by the unconscious Outworlder first. Liu gripped that one by the collar with his right hand and pulled the man's entire weight after him at an impressive speed. As he did that, Johnny had a beaten mutant in his grip and pushed that one to the right side from behind him before pulling him forward. The mutant's stomach met the actor's hip and he was flipped upside down as the kombatant threw him over it.

Kitana next threw both fans high into the air as Johnny let go of his victim and reached the tunnel just ahead of Liu, who was burdened by the body of the Outworlder. With the mutants just a few steps behind the kombatants, Kitana's fans slammed into the rough ceiling of the cave room. Contrary to what everyone except her expected, an explosion followed, showering everyone down below with large pieces of rocks. Liu motioned both Johnny and Kitana into the tunnel before quickly dragging the Outworlder's body into it with him. While that happened, the surviving mutants retreated back into the main entrance from which they had emerged...

"How did they know where to find us?", Johnny asked the obvious question as the unconscious Outworlder was waking up.

They were all outside in the fields of Outworld as the sun was beginning to set. They had thus built a fire to help them see their surroundings and also to keep them warm, although no one was thinking of the latter presently.

"I thought that cave was safe!", Kitana snapped, angry at herself.

"You must not blame yourself, my princess", Wreath tried to soothe, "It was no one's fault".

"I know of another place", Kitana sighed, frustrated, "I should take whoever is left there. At least we will not be out in the open when we arrive".

Johnny found it amazing how calm Wreath seemed after everything she had been through, especially after witnessing the death of her brother. As much as the actor wanted to make sure she was unharmed, he had bigger things on his mind. The mutants had found that place exactly when he, Liu and Kitana were inside. He wondered if that was a coincidence. Johnny stared at Liu, wondering what the monk thought of the situation. Liu, in his turn, had his eye set on one of the members who had come with them through the tunnel. The actor knew that such a stare from the monk meant something was wrong. Johnny felt like he would go crazy by just trying to guess what his fellow kombatant was thinking as seconds trickled by and Liu's stare did not break off.

"What happened to you during the attack?", Liu finally pointed towards the member with his right index finger.

"What do you mean?", that one replied, just noticing the monk's suspicious glance.

"You were hit", Liu told him, remembering what he saw as he was fending off his adversaries, "You were down on the ground, helpless, or supposedly so, and none of the mutants would attack you".

"_What_?", the Outworlder did not like Liu's tone of voice.

Liu turned his attention to Johnny, desiring to explain.

"Don't you find it strange that he was on the ground during the battle and none of the mutants moved in for the kill?", Liu asked his partner, "They fought you and me and _all_ the others who resisted but left someone who was helpless and would've been an easy kill alone".

"Maybe it was just the rush of the battle, Liu", Johnny gave the Outworlder the benefit of the doubt because he wanted to be sure before he made any decisions, "Maybe the mutants were afraid that if they let us go to turn to him, we'd hit them from behind".

"No, Liu", Princess Kitana held her right hand up, "What you're saying is impossible. I trust each person here with my life, as I did in that cave. There are no traitors among us".

"Do you have anything other than what you just said?", Johnny asked him next.

"No", Liu accusingly stared at the man, "Just my word. Is that not good enough for you any more?".

"That's not the case, you know that", the actor pressed, "But you gotta admit what you're saying is very serious. Would _you_ prosecute somebody based on what you've just said?".

The White Lotus monk didn't respond, only kept staring at his suspect.

"It might not have been him", Wreath offered to the discussion, looking at Liu also, "It might have been you for all we know".

"You think _I_ sold you out?", the monk pointed at himself, wondering if this was the gratitude all Outworlders gave.

"Of course not", Wreath clarified, "But you visitors might have been followed here without knowing it. It could have been any one of us, for that matter".

"Look, let's just sit by the fire for a while and let's all calm down, OK?", Johnny advised for everyone, "We relax for a while and keep our eyes out to make sure no one sneaks up on us. I'm sure when it's over, we'll be able to make sense of it".

Kitana reluctantly agreed. She wanted to take all the survivors to the new place she knew of, but she had to admit the Outworlder who had just woken up was not strong enough to travel yet. Thus, all ten people found themselves seated around the fire, although none of them were close to it and no one was resting. Liu was seated next to Kitana, always keeping his eye on his suspect and she was next to Johnny while the actor and Wreath kept a watchful eye over the surrounding fields.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Liu briefly stole a glance towards Johnny as the sun was barely visible now, indicating that the darkness would soon envelop them. The White Lotus monk thought to himself that at least his partner from the tournament had gotten out of the cave alive. He was seated on the ground close to Johnny and Wreath as the lady Outworlder was finally grieving while the kombatant tried to comfort her after the loss of her brother. Liu heard the actor saying he regretted her brother's death, but the monk turned his attention to other matters as they kept whispering to each other. The main thought on Liu's mind other than the suspected traitor he still had in his sights was that he wished they had brought Sonya along with them. Liu told himself that they could've used her keen military instincts and training, but she was unfortunately unavailable at the moment.

Four of the Outworlders were huddled together while Liu's suspected traitor was a short distance away, examining the wounds of the Outworlder who had been knocked out. Liu stared blankly into the fire that was set, trying to remember exactly what it was he saw during the fight with the mutants. He asked himself how close the nearest mutant had been to the Outworlder that he suspected of selling everyone else out. He was still wondering when something odd caught his attention.

The monk noticed a flame in the fire being swayed towards the left, as if it was caught in the wind, but the air was completely still. Another possibility for the movement in the flame could've been if there was a person next to it that it was being attracted to, but the closest person to it was seated two steps away. The flame kept being swayed in the left direction until Liu finally stood up, when it stopped and straightened up like the rest of the fire. The monk casually walked over to the fire and intentionally passed his hand through it fast. Surely enough, a flame from the fire was attracted in his direction and stayed in that fashion. When Liu casually walked back to where he had been seated, he noticed the flame vertically joining the rest of the fire. Sitting on the ground next to Kitana, Liu began to turn to her to tell her what just happened. He didn't get a chance because the worried look on her face stopped him.

"Princess?", he asked, nonverbally asking her what bothered her.

"I can feel someone here", Kitana turned to him and answered in a whisper.

Johnny and Wreath had heard her also, so they stopped talking.

"Who?", Wreath asked.

"The betrayer", Kitana told them, looking nervous, "I can feel a betrayer in our midst. I am afraid. I believed I knew them all, but obviously I was wrong. I must have been wrong if I can feel a betrayer here".

Before Liu could respond, Kitana continued.

"I cannot take you to the new hideout", she told the three, "If the betrayer, whoever it is, told the mutants about the whereabouts of the cave, he or she will do the same with the new hideout. It will also get raided, and it has no back escape like the cave did".

"That's OK, Princess", Johnny answered, "We can tough it out just fine out here until we find this guy. Don't worry about it".

His advice not to worry seemed to fall on deaf ears for as far as Kitana was concerned. She was still feeling scared when Liu stared down into the ground. The monk reached ahead until he saw some sand. He picked up as much sand as possible with his right hand and began examining it. Kitana and Johnny were wondering why he seemed to be so interested in a handful of sand, and Liu's behavior was beginning to catch the attention of the other Outworlders.

Without a word, Liu turned towards the fire and saw that a flame in it was again being attracted to one side. The monk tossed the handful of sand towards the spot to the left of the fire, surprising everyone around him. The grains of sand landed on and stayed on what appeared to be a human shape even though there was no one there. Laughter was heard from that direction as Liu jumped up to his feet. Johnny followed his partner's actions, both turning into their fighting stance and distancing themselves from the invisible intruder.

"Get away from the fire! Get away from it!", Johnny warned before the Outworlders put distance between themselves and it.

"What _is_ that?", Kitana was on her feet also.

"That's our betrayer", Liu finally realized.

The laughing human shape became visible from under the grains of sand. Within a few seconds, Liu and Johnny found themselves staring at a ninja dressed in green.

"Reptile", Liu whispered to himself.

"That's right", Reptile teased as he stopped laughing, "You finally caught on".

"But you are dead", Liu said, "I _know_ I killed you!".

"Really?", Reptile answered, coming two steps closer, "You know nothing about me. If you did, you would have known how to finish the job during the original tournament".

Without anyone knowing what he was doing, Reptile grabbed his own masked chin and gave a lot of energy to pull it off. The mask and the human skin rolled off the ninja's face to reveal his true appearance. What lay under the seemingly human face was the head of reptile itself. Some of the Outworlders tensed at the sight.

"You unlocked my special abilities after you destroyed the human disguise I always hated", the green ninja remarked, recalling the past with spite, "I always hated it but was forced into it by Shang Tsung. Having you kill me was actually a blessing in disguise".

"What the hell's he talking about?", Johnny whispered, hating to imagine Reptile with even more talents than when Liu fought him in the first tournament, "What special abilities?".

"Such as the ability to become invisible", Reptile answered him, hinting that one of his abilities was a supersensitive hearing.

"After my death in the forced human disguise, the great one rebuilt me", Reptile went on, "So now I serve only him. I was there when you three ambushed his mutants. I did not intervene simply because I knew Kitana would take you to her hideout. I followed to see where it was and then went to get the great one's forces. He told the mutants to leave one member unharmed so, in case some managed to escape, that would put suspicion of betrayal upon that one and cause havoc".

"The great one? Qarro?", Johnny wanted a confirmation that Reptile was talking about the new leader they still hadn't seen.

Reptile didn't answer, he only stared at Liu.

"I will kill you last, simply to make you suffer as you watch everyone else die, White Lotus", he addressed Liu, "And in case you are wondering why I insisted on staying by the fire, I was merely absorbing its energy. It's another special ability. I have been waiting a long time for my revenge".

With those words, Reptile opened his mouth and a tongue of flame shot out, aimed for Liu's general direction. As they all jumped aside to avoid it, the attack reminded Johnny of his meeting with Scorpion in the yellow ninja's lair. Johnny, Liu and Wreath leapt towards the left while Kitana sprang towards the right. The kombatants quickly rolled themselves into a ball and were soon back on their feet. As they stood up, Reptile was already invisible again.

Reptile attacked as he hid behind his invisibility cloak. The Outworlder closest to him screamed as he felt liquid burning into his face. The ninja was spitting out toxic acid in short, quick bursts. Reptile made sure to spit the acid into his target three times fast. The man's face melted as his scream began to wane while the acid seemed to shoot out from an invisible source about three steps away. Liu rushed towards the invisible source only to watch the flow of acid stop as he was a mere two steps away from it. The ninja's first victim fell on the ground, his upper body sizzling hot. A second Outworlder was violently kicked in the head as the kombatants were desperately trying to pinpoint the ninja's position and the survivors were trying not to panic. The second target fell down on his back before the invisible ninja brought his foot down on the man's neck, easily breaking it.

Kitana was already holding a fan in her right hand as she let it fly towards what she believed to be Reptile's direction from the angle that the second Outworlder was killed. Her fan soared towards the target but only met air as it passed over the second victim's body, indicating the marauding ninja was already gone. Disappointed with her effort, Kitana flicked her right thumb and index fingers and the fan obediently returned to her hand.

From five steps away, Liu saw the acid spitting out again from the area between him and Johnny, this time aimed at the face of the man he had accused of being a traitor earlier on. Reptile had reasoned that he would kill the third victim and be away from the area long before Liu could rush over to hit him. But while Liu had walked into Reptile's ruse by blaming an innocent Outworlder of being a betrayer, Reptile had become overconfident by forgetting about Liu's talents from the original tournament. Instead of running over to the third victim, like he had done before, Liu jumped into the air towards the source of the acid and performed his bicycle kick. The monk reached the source faster than he would have if he was on foot and Reptile was caught off guard while busy spitting out his third shot of acid into the man's face. The invisible ninja tried to get out of the way but was too late as the third Outworlder dropped on the ground with a scream and his face melting. Liu happily felt his invisible opponent's chest under his feet as he continually kicked his legs out, his anger carrying him in the air longer than he could've ordinarily stayed.

Johnny saw Liu alone performing his kick in the air and driving slowly towards him. Knowing the monk would've been on the ground already if he had missed Reptile, the actor decided to give his fellow kombatant a hand. He did so in order to make sure the ninja did not have a chance to escape since the killing spree had to be stopped. With Liu heading the adversary his way, Johnny executed a powerful flying shadow kick aimed right at the monk's airborne feet since he reasoned Reptile was in front of them. Johnny's flying kick slammed hard into Reptile's back as Liu was still delivering his own brand of punishment from the front. The green ninja gave a short scream, became visible and fell down on the ground with a severed spine. He hit the ground at about he same time that Johnny and Liu came back down on their feet. Liu guessed that he was visible since he couldn't maintain his invisibility cloak once mortally wounded. As he lay on his stomach, the green ninja's reptilian face looked up at both kombatants, saying nothing. He had been training the entire time ever since the great one had reconstructed him until now in order to extract his revenge on the kombatants from the Earth realm. Reptile knew he had failed as his eyes closed and he died. He was defeated yet again.

Liu surveyed the damage. Three more Outworlders were dead. He sighed, his heart breaking after seeing the harm done. Now that the real betrayer was dead, they could've gone to Kitana's new hideout, but the price was high. Most of her members were already dead as it. Of the more than twenty Outworlders originally in the cavern, only five remained. Kitana, Wreath, the man who had been unconscious and one more man and woman were still alive. The monk knew whoever was left would have to be protected, so he and Johnny would have to follow the Princess to the sanctuary.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The new hideout was another natural cave, much smaller than the previous one. Liu hadn't even settled into the dark interior of this one as the Outworlders tried to make the best of the situation. The monk's facial expression told Johnny he had a plan.

"What's on your mind, pal?", the actor broke the dreary silence in the dark cavern.

"I know something that could help me get the upper hand in this fight against the mutants", the monk spoke up, catching everyone else's attention, "I can also destroy Qarro, whoever, or whatever, he is".

"Talk to me", Johnny wanted to know more.

"My sword would come in handy", Liu told him, "I brought it with me when I flew to America because of your call, but it's at Sonya's residence in the red bag she gave me. Retrieving it would mean having to go back there and leave everyone behind for a while, and I don't want to".

"I could do it", Johnny offered, realizing Liu would've been much better off without the stress of having to worry about Kitana and the others while in the Earth realm.

"That would mean a lot", the White Lotus monk was grateful.

"No problem. Besides, I have the key", the actor reasoned, staring up towards the cave's ceiling.

Nothing happened for a few seconds.

"Rayden?", he nervously smiled, "You said all we had to do was tell you when we wanted to come back. Don't fall asleep now, please".

Johnny slowly disappeared as the thunder god must've realized he wished to return. Liu didn't tell him to bring Sonya along once he returned since he reasoned that the actor would ask her to join him if he believed it was appropriate. The monk sighed as Johnny was gone. He hoped the wait would not be long.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Johnny promptly made his way to Sonya's home and used his key to open the front door before stepping inside.

"Anybody home?", he asked out loud, waiting briefly for a response.

Hearing nothing, he proceeded towards the red gym bag that was resting next to the couch where Liu had slept. Squatting next to it, Johnny anxiously opened it and saw, among other things, a sheathed sword. Feeling glad, the kombatant pulled it out and withdrew the weapon from its protective cover. He guessed that the razor-sharp blade was about two and a half feet long. Confident he found what he came for, he returned the blade into its sheath and was heading back out when the phone rang. Unsure as to whether he should answer it, Johnny debated the choices in his mind for a few seconds before finally picking up the receiver.

"Hello?", he greeted the caller.

Sonya's eyes shone as she heard his voice as the hospital payphone was pressed against her ear.

"Johnny?", she asked to verify who it was, "Is this Johnny?".

"Sonya? Where are you?", the actor asked her.

"I'm at the hospital", she told him, "Where have _you_ been all this time?".

"The hospital? What's wrong?", the actor replied.

"I'm fine. It's Scott who's hurt", she let him know, "Can you get over here?".

"Sure thing", the actor answered, feeling glad since this would've given him a chance to ask her to join them in Outworld, assuming Scott was healthy enough to be alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was on her feet and staring straight ahead as her back rested against the wall outside Scott's room. She had placed both hands in her pants pockets after washing his blood off them and the handcuffs were already in a trashcan. She had removed her bloodied yellow jacket and had considered throwing it in the trash along with the handcuffs, but the jacket was ultimately kept with her. It was hanging casually around her left forearm as she was trying hard to keep her emotions under control. She wished the contraction in her throat would ease, but knew that it wouldn't until she heard that Scott was going to live. She realized having an empty shoulder holster over her tank top must've seemed awkward, but she did not care at the moment. As she kept staring ahead, a nurse approached her from the left.

"Do you know what insurance the patient has?", the nurse asked, forcing her to turn her face to the left.

"Gee, maybe I should just walk in there and say 'hey, sweetie, what insurance do ninjas have?'. Don't you have somebody else to bother?", Sonya snapped at her.

The nurse didn't answer, only locked eyes with her for a handful of seconds. Sonya could see that she was working hard and was under a lot of stress. She knew the nurse was only asking such questions because she was forced to follow orders from her superiors, much like in the military. Gathering herself, Sonya calmed down, dropping the sarcasm.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry", she continued, staring ahead again, "The truth is I don't know. I'm still wondering if he'll live. I'll find out and let you know as soon as I can".

"OK, thanks", the nurse tapped her on the arm and walked away, understanding her response.

She had to wait a few more minutes before she spotted Johnny hurrying towards her from the opposite side of the hallway. She noticed that the actor was carrying the red gym bag that she had given to Liu as he came closer.

"Wooh! What happened?", Johnny saw the bloody jacket in her left arm as he stopped, "Are you OK?".

"We just had a little visit with our friends at the Black Dragons, that's all", she explained as she pulled herself away from the wall, "Where were you and Liu?".

"In Outworld", he bluntly responded.

"Huh?", her reaction was understandable.

"We got a problem to solve in Outworld. There's someone new there. A new threat that we haven't seen yet", he went on, "That's why I'm taking Liu's sword to him. I'm in a rush, I left him there with Kitana and some others. I don't even know how long they'll be without me since time gets messed up when we travel back and forth".

"Great", she commented as she flattened her back against the wall again.

"Can you come with us?", Johnny asked her next.

"Johnny, Scott's lying there with a hole in his stomach", she pointed towards the room.

"Again?", was his only reaction, sounding colder than he intended it to.

"Well, next time I'll ask him to make a schedule before he gets shot so it's OK with the rest of us", Sonya sarcastically told him.

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant", he corrected, "I've just been seeing more blood than I care to recall lately".

"It's fine. I've been really on edge lately too", she responded staring ahead as she finally saw the doctor exiting Scott's room.

"How is he?", Sonya blurted out.

"Well, he's... surprising", the doctor told her.

"Could you clarify that for us?", she pressed, not in the mood for word games.

"He should be allright, we've stopped the bleeding", the doctor relieved them both, "I just can't understand how he appears as he is. We have a record of him being shot in the stomach before, but I can't find any trace of his previous injury".

"Well, what can I tell you? He's strong as hell", Sonya finally smiled, "Can I see him?".

"He's awake, but needs plenty of rest. I wouldn't recommend it at the moment", the doctor advised.

"Thanks", she responded as she proceeded into the room.

The doctor began to protest, but a nonverbal warning from Johnny told him not to. He thus sighed and walked away.

"Does this mean you'll be able to come along?", Johnny asked as she was about to open the door.

"I don't know if I should, Johnny", she insisted, "I mean, I told the nurse that I'd tell her what insurance she was working with since she needs to know it".

"What's going on with you? Why are you trying to avoid a fight?", the actor pressed.

"I dunno. I wish I did", Sonya began to feel dizzy.

She held on to the door in order to keep from falling down on the floor. Johnny rushed ahead to help her stand, but she motioned him away.

"I'm OK, I'm really OK", she reassured him, holding the doorknob with her left hand and squeezing her eyes together with her right, "Wow! It's just the effect of that tear gas. It's finally catching up with me".

"Oh", Johnny seemed to understand, although he had no idea what she had done to get hit with tear gas.

"Listen, gimme a minute", she told him, "I'll come along".

"Sure", he replied as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

Scott was lying on the bed as he saw her coming into the room still dressed in the commando pants and tank top. She could feel the cool wind coming in through the open window of the hospital room

"How are you doing?", she tried to smile.

"I'm fine", he coughed, "How 'bout you?".

"I'm fine too", she told him, "Listen, I have to go somewhere with Johnny. He's waiting outside. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll come back as soon as I possibly can, OK?".

"You have to leave now?", Scott didn't like what he heard.

"Believe me, I wish I didn't", she replied, "But apparently there's a new threat in the Outworld, so I'm needed. Just tell the nurse what insurance you have when you see her again, OK?".

Scott only groaned.

"What's wrong?", she exclaimed, suddenly worried again.

"Nothing, I'm fine", he eased her fears while he was still in pain, "I wanted you to stay so we could talk. It was wrong, what I did".

He stopped and stared at the ceiling before looking at her again.

"That hit wasn't right", he gasped as the sedative the doctor had given him was taking effect.

"Oh my God, don't even worry about that", Sonya bent down and brought her face close to his, gripping his hand, "Listen, we'll talk about it when I get back, OK? I promise. Just promise me you'll still be alive when I get back".

"I'll be here", he assured her.

Scott lifted his head off the pillow and kissed the healed scar on her left cheek.

"I love you. Good luck", his head crashed back on the pillow.

"Same here and I won't need luck", she kissed her right index and touched his lips with it before standing up straight, "Try to get some rest".

"Yeah", he answered before she walked out of the room.

Sonya closed the door behind her as she was in the hallway with her fellow kombatant.

"Let's go", she told him, aiming for the new threat in Outworld with a new coldness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the room, Scott was still trying to make sense of all the events that had taken place lately. He felt extremely confused as he was staring at the ceiling. Things seemed to make less sense the more he thought about them. He remembered from his clone's memories that Rayden had helped that one see the light. Desperately needing the thunder god's guidance, Scott decided to try to contact him.

"RAYDEEEN", he screamed, not caring if anyone heard him.

A bolt of lightning shot into the room from the open window as the thunder god took his human shape at the foot of the bed.

"You called?", Rayden pleasantly asked.

"I need some help, man", Scott pleaded.

"I know", the god answered, "I saw your actions. Becoming one with the clone was not a wise thing to do. I only sent him to you so he could spend his last few days in peace, nothing more".

"Well, thanks for the advice, but I didn't feel like spending the rest of my life with the strength of a ten-year old", Scott replied.

"You were _never_ a ninja", Rayden explained, "You were only dressed as one when you attacked Chaves. The clone was, and you do not have the discipline to use that power wisely. Not that he did either".

"Then I need to _get_ the discipline then", Scott pressed.

"How do you mean?", the god questioned.

"There has got to be somebody that I can train with to control my anger, man", the ninja explained in his own turn.

"No one is realistically available", the god promptly told him.

"Dammit, man!", Scott proved to be persistent, "How can you be so sure so quick? I need something new here. Something that wasn't seen by humans before".

"I'm sorry, but that is all that is available", Rayden insisted.

"That's not true and you know it!", Scott pointed his left index finger at the god in an accusing fashion, "There are people you're not telling me about. At least there's _one_ person I know of".

Rayden didn't respond, waiting for the human to continue.

"When Goro's specter attacked, I saw him", Scott explained, "I thought he was unbeatable. And he was, by our standards at least. When Sonya and Liu and Johnny came back in one piece, they told me what had happened. His brother Durak had finished Goro off. _That's_ who I need to find. Durak can train me to reach the discipline you mentioned. I don't need any regular human martial arts here. I doubt there's anything anyone can show me that my clone and I put together haven't seen before".

"I would not recommend it", the thunder god flatly stated.

"Why the hell not?", Scott didn't understand his pessimism.

"Because Durak is also a specter", the god told him, "In order to train with him, you'd have to travel to the land of the dead. I have no power there whatsoever. I could surely transport you there, but I could not bring you back. It would be up to Durak to open a rift between his world and this one to let you through and if he did not want to open the rift, you would be left behind in the land of the dead forever. Your return to the land of the living depends solely on the one you visit there".

"I'll chance it", Scott quickly answered.

"Why? It is not worth the risk", Rayden said, "Your soul will be unable to rest if you are in the land of the dead in your living body".

"Dammit, man, I said I'll chance it!", the human insisted.

"Why?!", Rayden could not accept his reasoning.

"Do you know what happened here?", Scott asked him.

"No, I cannot be everywhere at once", the god admitted, "Even I have my limitations".

"I hit Sonya. Almost knocked all her teeth out", Scott remembered, "And it was just a few hours after I had asked her to marry me. How messed up is _that_, huh?".

Scott rubbed his forehead as Rayden kept quiet.

"I don't even know what happened", the ninja continued, "Maybe I was angry that she didn't say 'yes' when I asked her. I dunno. All I know is, if any other guy had done that to her in front of me, I would've killed him. I'm sure of that".

"I have warned you of the risks", Rayden sighed, disappointed that Scott didn't give up his idea, "If you wish to go to the land of the dead, I can take you".

"Thanks", Scott was grateful, "But one thing before. Can you get me some clothes? I would hate to go there dressed in this goddamn hospital gown".

Rayden flicked two fingers together and Scott's favorite shirt from home appeared on his lap along with a loose pair of pants and his sneakers.

"Thanks again!", the human was impressed as he smiled, "Just give me a while to put this stuff on. It might take a while".

"Do not bother", the god let him know, "Some things you should know about the land of the dead is that it has some very beneficial healing affects. You will be healed if Durak allows you to return. Time also goes much slower there than it does here. You should be warned".

"OK", Scott received the information, remembering Sonya's words before she left, "I might as well go there then. It's only wise since I don't even _have_ insurance".

Rayden still looked sad to see him leave, so Scott continued, snickering.

"It sucks. Minimum wage jobs don't give out health insurance nowadays", he went on, "Can you believe that?".

"Good luck, Scott", Rayden placed his palms together, "I hope to see you here again".

Scott vanished out of his bed. Seeing it, Rayden himself ceased his human shape and the bolts of electricity exited out of the window. A short while afterwards, a uniformed police officer opened the door from outside and looked into the room. Seeing no one, the officer signaled the nurse.

"Nurse, didn't you call us saying there was a patient here with a bullet wound?", the officer asked, confused.

"Yes, what's the problem?", the nurse approached, "You can't ask him anything because he's asleep?".

"Noo", the officer replied as the nurse reached the open door and looked inside also.

Both the nurse and the officer had no idea where the patient went.

XXXXXXXXXX

Scott saw his surroundings vanishing before a snow-white sky suddenly appeared overhead. The hard ground he found himself laying on was exceptionally dark as he stood up, realizing he was already wearing the clothes that had appeared on his lap in the hospital. Also, he pleasantly noticed that his bullet wound and the cuts on his wrists were completely gone. He proceeded ahead, reasoning that someone who was strong enough to kill Goro could not have been hard to pinpoint.

The area Scott was walking on was the Earth equivalent of walking under a full moon at night, but the surprising feature was that the sky was brighter than a sunny and cloudless day on Earth. He found it strange but didn't worry about it too much because he was getting very nervous. Johnny had told him that Durak was not friendly. The Shokanite had allowed his brother's specter to kill two innocent strangers because he wanted Goro to have victory within his grasp before being killed.

"Ninjas don't get scared. Ninjas don't get scared. Ninjas don't get scared", Scott kept repeating to himself as he viewed a protrusion on the ground that was about fifty yards ahead.

As Scott neared the protrusion, he realized it was about as tall as he was, but it was also an individual who was seated on the ground with his head lowered. That one appeared to have four arms that were wrapped around each other in front of his chest, although it was difficult to distinguish it for sure in the surrounding darkness. The ninja approached the person, suspecting he had found Durak. He stopped about four yards away from the immobile figure and cleared his throat. The figure finally raised his head and acknowledged his presence. With his head raised, the seated figure was at least as tall as Scott was while the ninja stood.

"Let me guess", Scott gave a nervous smile as he pointed at the figure, "Durak, am I right?".

The seated native calmly rose to his feet as he and Scott kept their eyes locked. The ninja involuntarily whimpered when the figure was standing at his full height. Hoping the native hadn't heard him, Scott tried to look unimpressed even though he suspected he was failing at the task. He felt very tiny all of a sudden as his face was pushed as far back as possible to maintain his eye contact with the one he was here to see. Durak's height reached at least nine feet from head to toe while Scott had estimated Goro's height to be about eight and a half feet tall. Durak's skin color was also a darker complexion than his brother's. Every one of Durak's four arms seemed to carry more muscle mass than Scott's entire body could come up with.

"What is your business here?", Durak questioned.

"I'm here to ask you to train me, if you please would", Scott began gathering his confidence again.

"Absolutely not", Durak bluntly responded as he angrily pointed at Scott, "You should not have come here. I will send you back immediately, and you _will_ leave".

The human felt as if he had committed a crime and was receiving one last chance to redeem himself.

"Where's your brother, by the way?", Scott asked next, determined to change his mind as the giant turned around.

"His soul was lost in oblivion when I killed his specter", Durak's chest twisted from his waist and his blood-red eyes stared into Scott's, "What does that have to do with you and me?".

"Listen", the ninja raised his palms in front of his chest, "Do you know what's happening in Outworld?".

"I have been disinterested in human affairs ever since I finished off my brother for good", Durak responded.

Scott took his answer as a 'no' as Durak next turned and began walking away.

"Yeah, well, there's somebody new. I don't know who", the human went on, "My friends already went there to fight him. I wanna help. I figured if I was going to have a chance against him, then I'd have to train with the best. Since Goro was unbeatable by our standards and you beat him, then that makes _you_ the best".

Durak stopped and turned his face to the right while his back was still facing Scott.

"Is it a Shokanite?", he asked about the new threat, indicating that he actually was interested.

"I don't know", Scott repeated as Durak turned completely around and stepped closer to him again.

The Shokanite stopped a short distance away from the ninja and bent down, bringing his aggressive face within a mere six inches from Scott's.

"But that is not the only reason for you being here, is it?", the Shokanite questioned.

"No, but it's the only reason I'm giving you", Scott coldly responded, clearly feeling better than he did when he first arrived into the land of the dead.

Durak groaned softly as he stood back up straight while Scott kept staring into his red eyes. The ninja wanted an answer and he was not willing to wait long for it.

"Look, if you want me to prove myself first, that's fine", the human offered, "We can fight if you'd like. And if you think I'm worthy, then train me".

Durak arched his head back and laughed out loud. Scott guessed that he was loud enough to be heard from hundreds of yards away.

"Pardon me. That was literally my first laugh in ages", the Shokanite explained after he stopped.

Annoyed at what he viewed as being Durak's pompous attitude, Scott shifted into his fighting stance and yelled out a battle cry. Durak's eyes widened for a split second as he saw the human flying towards him with the right leg extended ahead of the rest of the body. Scott's right foot slammed into Durak's stomach and sent that one three small steps backwards and briefly gasping for breath. The Shokanite gathered his concentration as the plainclothed ninja landed back on his feet, ready to strike again. Before Durak could swing, Scott twisted to his left and aimed as high as his legs allowed. He succeeded in planting his right foot into the Shokanite's chest as that one staggered one more step backwards. Scott next swung with his right arm, his right fist slamming into the side of Durak's stomach before he realized his arm strength alone had no effect on the Shokanite. As he tried to withdraw, Durak swung with his upper right arm and sent a massive punch into the human's head. Scott's head snapped to his right as he found himself flying five yards away.

The ninja landed on his right side and, dazed but not discouraged, stood up just in time to see the Shokanite angrily charging towards him. Scott hurried backwards to increase the distance between them because he found that Durak was unusually fast for someone his size. Then, with enough time to think about a strategy, the ninja rushed forward and towards his opponent. Reaching Durak, Scott sent a low kick aimed at the Shokanite's side of the left knee, knocking that one off balance. As Durak's left leg buckled under the hit and his left knee almost touched the ground, the Shokanite recovered fast enough to pull himself back up to a standing position. Scott next twisted in a powerful roundhouse kick that he had hoped would've been aimed at his adversary's head if that one had been down on his knees. Since Durak managed to stand tall despite the hit on the knee, the back of Scott's ankle met the top half of the Shokanite's right upper arm. Barely feeling the strike, Durak twisted to his right and his left upper fist crashed into Scott's face, knocking the human down with ease.

With Scott down on the ground and on his back, Durak bent down and casually gripped the human's collar with his lower right arm. His lower right grip lifted the helpless Scott as high as possible and the ninja felt his feet dangling about a yard off the ground. Before the human had a chance to brace himself, Durak next executed an uppercut into Scott's chin by using his upper right arm. While a yard off the ground, the uppercut snapped Scott's body back and still upwards so that he was almost three yards off the ground when he started coming back down. The ninja slammed into the ground back-first, feeling an overwhelming pain in his head and upper body but seeing no blood at all. The uppercut should've been enough to kill him, but he was still alive because he was able to look up and see Durak sighing.

"Fine, I will train you", the Shokanite told him, annoyed that the human possessed such energy and courage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The training began almost immediately. Durak instructed Scott to be on his guard and began an offensive, only lightly touching the human without desiring to deliver a strong blow. The objective of the exercise was to help the ninja improve his defensive skills as Scott was driven back while he ducked and jumped aside, trying to avoid his opponent's four arms. Durak patiently followed wherever the human's pace sent him and kept up with his attacks. A few occasional swings were blocked by a massive high kick from Scott as his foot slammed into the Shokanite's fist and stopped him cold. Generally, though, the ninja found it was easier to just get out of the way.

The practice lasted for about forty minutes until Durak saw that Scott was finally exhausted. The Shokanite stopped and stared at him as he was bent down, staring at the dark ground and trying to catch his breath.

"How are you doing?", the Shokanite asked, not even breathing hard.

If Scott wasn't trying so hard to ease his tense body, he would've been extremely impressed at the Shokanite's endurance.

"I'm fine", the ninja kept panting.

"Good", Durak replied, "Now your training can begin".

"_What_?!", Scott exclaimed, looking up at him, "That was the _end_ of the training! What're you talking about?".

"In your world, perhaps", Durak grinned, "Not here with me".

"Get real, man!", Scott couldn't believe his ears, "I can't go on!".

Durak flicked two of the three fingers in his lower right arm just before Scott heard waves from behind him. Naturally curious, the ninja turned around to see a bright red sea of lava quickly flooding towards him. He only had enough time to widen his eyes. Not feeling tired any more, Scott turned back around and ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He rushed past Durak a few seconds before the lava reached the Shokanite and neatly avoided him, pursuing only the human.

Panting and occasionally screaming as he turned to see how close the lava was, Scott ran around for another half an hour. When the time had passed, Durak flicked two fingers together again and the lava vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. The ninja dropped on the ground, desperately trying to breath as his chest and his stomach ached. His Shokanite trainer approached him and sat down next to him, actually looking pleased. Durak gently patted Scott on the head.

"Do not worry. It would not have harmed you", he told the human, referring to the lava, "It was only my creation. You _are_ in the land of the dead, after all. Where else would you go?".

"Gee, thanks", Scott sat up, still panting but feeling his body as it strengthened after the run.

Neither one spoke for a few seconds.

"Pretty neat trick", the human broke the silence, "Can _I_ try it?".

"I would not recommend it", the Shokanite advised, "You are in the land of the dead, but you are still alive. You cannot use its resources just yet".

"Great", was Scott's reply as he kept looking at his trainer.

"What is it?", Durak asked, noticing the stare.

"Nothing", the ninja responded, slowly calming down, "I was just wondering what it must've been like to have to kill your only brother".

"That is the past", the Shokanite avoided the subject as he stood back up, "One should never live in the past".

Still breathing hard, Scott stood up after him.

"You know what?", Scott mentioned next, "Would it be possible for me to see others as long as I'm here? I wouldn't mind meeting Sonya's brother Danny. She always talks about him".

"You only came here to see me", the Shokanite went on, "You should stay with that alone".

Scott understood...

The training continued for what Scott objectively felt was months. The sky didn't change between night and day and he had no watch to indicate how long he was in the land of the dead, so he couldn't be sure. As the months seemed to pass, though, Scott never slept and never ate or drank anything, nor did he have the urge to. The practice against the Shokanite was enough to keep him occupied.

The ninja was in the middle of a sparring duel as he flew towards the Shokanite, using his clone's rage to propel him forward. After his impact into Durak, he came back down on the ground, incessantly punching and kicking. Scott's initial attacks hit his opponent and effectively kept him back, but he soon became overwhelmed with weariness and anger. His next efforts either missed their intended targets or were weak during the impact. Despite a great deal of resistance, Durak always managed to knock him down. With the ninja's back flat against the ground, the Shokanite bent down and pressed his lower right hand into that one's chest, making sure he couldn't get back up despite the best of efforts.

"You are still letting your anger control you", Durak warned him, "If you don't control your aggression, it will control you and you will lose the fight for sure. Learn to live with it and make it your ally, not your enemy".

Scott ceased trying to get out from under the massive arm, and kept listening as he caught his breath.

"The greatest weapon anywhere is controlled rage", the Shokanite continued, "If all the rage is controlled, it is possible for a human to defeat a Shokanite. When one is in control of the rage, every strike will be as natural and flawless as the wind. The fighter will never miss a target and will not feel exhaustion until after the opponent is defeated".

Durak lifted his hand off Scott's chest, thus easing up the pressure on it. He then offered his lower right hand while the ninja was trying to get up. Scott gripped the large hand and the Shokanite pulled him up to his feet.

"Come on, youngster", the Shokanite said, "Try it again"...

Durak swung for Scott's head with his upper right arm. Seeing the strike, the ninja pulled his upper body back in time and actually caught the muscular forearm. Since the trainer's forearm was much thicker than his own, Scott pressed both his palms on either side of it in his attempt to hold on to it. Using the swing's own momentum, the ninja pulled the forearm towards the direction it was aimed for. Caught off guard, Durak was pulled downward and to the left, following the direction of the swing. The Shokanite's 600 pound body crashed on its right side as Durak's stomach landed on the ground next to Scott's feet.

Durak was proud of the fact that his student, who weighed less than a third of his own weight, was able to bring him down. That did not keep him from wanting to finish the practice as the winner, though. The Shokanite tried to stand back up and received a sharp kick to the head from the ninja for his efforts. Durak's head snapped back as he still managed to stand tall. With Scott attempting a front kick aimed at his stomach, Durak gripped the human's upper arms by using his own lower arms and lifted him a yard off the ground.

Seeing the Shokanite's right fist coming at his head as he was off the ground, helpless, Scott was disappointed. The ninja had believed this would've been the one time he was about to overpower his trainer. That did not happen as Durak's right fist crashed into the left side of his face and knocked him back on the ground, defeated. Scott caught his breath as Durak signaled the end of the session. The ninja realized that, had he been back in the Earth realm during all this practice, he would've died about thirty times already.

"You are improving", Durak encouraged him as he stood back up, "That was the first time I was knocked down. You are definitely on the right track"...

Durak swung for Scott's head again, this time with his lower right fist. The fist crashed into the ninja's head as the Shokanite kept up with the attacks. A fraction of a second after the impact of the lower right fist into the human's face, Durak's upper right fist followed and delivered a second punch before the ninja could react. Quickly pulling both right arms back as the human's head had snapped towards his right shoulder, the trainer swung again. The trainer's upper left fist then crashed into Scott's head for a third strike and snapped the ninja's head towards his left shoulder.

Each of the three punches should've been enough to disorient an average Shokanite, and Scott had staggered and lost his concentration whenever he was hit before. This time, though, the ninja's body stood still while only his head moved under the three consecutive impacts. His resilience surprised even Durak. Screaming, the human twisted to his right and sent his left palm into Durak's stomach. A sharp pain overtook Durak and he bent down, eyes wide and gasping for breath. Scott next jumped and delivered a high uppercut, snapping the Shokanite's upper body up and backwards. The next thing Scott's trainer saw was the brightly white sky because he was lying on the ground, flat on his back.

Knowing Shokanites were naturally more enduring than humans, Durak quickly pulled himself back up to his feet and kicked the ninja in the chest before that one could strike. Scott flew backwards into the air before landing hard on his back about ten yards away. Feeling nothing, the human smoothly jumped back on his feet and rushed towards his adversary. After he had run half the distance between him and Durak, Scott executed a flying kick. He sailed into the air and covered the second half of the distance before his foot slammed into the Shokanite's massive chest. Slightly dazed and pushed backwards, Durak reached for the ninja as that one sent a front kick into his stomach. Feeling the impact into his stomach, Durak ignored it and picked Scott off the ground. He lifted the ninja until the human's face was as high as his own before he held his student in a horizontal position. Durak then threw Scott down towards the ground before the ninja could react. Scott's back slammed into the ground and he realized that he was once more the loser. He finally felt the pain in his chest and head when Durak signaled the end of the match. The Shokanite next sat down on the ground next to his groaning student.

"You did excellent", Durak told him with a smile.

"Thanks", Scott replied as he still squeezed his teeth together, waiting for the pain to vanish.

"I have taught you all I can", the Shokanite bluntly went on, "I think it is time for you to rejoin your friends".

"Are you sure?", the human asked, the pain waning.

Durak bowed his head, indicating an affirmative answer.

"Gosh, OK", Scott saw his trainer standing up, so he did the same.

Neither one spoke as they kept standing straight, eyes locked.

"Thanks a lot for everything", the ninja spoke first.

"It was a pleasure", Durak let him know.

Scott wrapped his arms around the Shokanite's waistline because it was as high as he could reach in front of his own shoulders. He had unexpectedly gotten used to having Durak around every minute for the last several months and had, at times, forgotten where he was and the fact that he'd have to leave. Although his arms were barely long enough for his hands to touch behind the Shokanite's lower back, Durak returned the gesture. The embrace only lasted about a second or two before they separated.

"I'll see you later, I guess", the human smiled.

"Yes", the Shokanite smiled back.

The ninja stepped away while Durak closed his eyes and placed all four of his palms together, as if in prayer. An oval opening soon appeared a few steps away from them, clearly waiting for the one who didn't belong in the land of the dead. As the rift patiently waited in midair, Scott walked towards it without uttering another word and stepped inside. Once through it, the rift disappeared behind him and Scott found himself not back in Earth but in a strange land. He curiously stared up towards the purple sky as a sun was rising with barely a fourth of the brightness of the sun in his own realm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Liu was awake as he kept staring towards the entrance of the cavern. Wreath and the other Outworlders were asleep, trying to be as comfortable as the rough surface of the cave allowed them to be. The only other person still awake with the monk was Princess Kitana as they both knew they couldn't go to sleep since someone was needed to watch out for intruders. They could tell they had been awake throughout the entire night because the bright purple color of the horizon indicated the sun was about to rise. Liu was wondering why Johnny had not returned yet. He hoped his kombat partner did not run into any difficulty, although Rayden's warning that times changed irregularly between the two realms should've been enough to ease his worries. Kitana, on her part, looked completely calm. If she was worried, Liu told himself that she did a good job hiding her feelings.

"What was that fan that you had withdrawn when the mutants attacked us?", Liu addressed her with a low toned voice because he didn't want to wake up the others, "I saw you trying to use it against Reptile also. Is it something new?".

He had been curious about Kitana's weapon, and he reasoned he might as well know about it now since talking would help keep him awake.

"It's a magical instrument, depending on belief more than it does on science", Kitana told him, weariness overcoming her words, "It does what one believes it will do, whether that one is the user or the person it is aimed against. If the enemy does not see it approaching, and thus does not expect it, the fan can be deadly. If one should brace him or herself for it, though, it is just a paper fan and harmless. I believe the mutants who survived saw me using it, so it should not be worth much after now".

"Interesting", the monk admitted with his eyes still on the cavern entrance.

Her voice told him she needed sleep. Liu told himself he knew the reason she was forcing herself to stay awake. It was probably because she thought it was wrong to force a visitor from the Earth realm to bear the burden of guarding her Outworlders alone.

"You do not have to stay awake, Princess", the monk mentioned without shifting his eyes towards her, "I am fine here. You should rest for a short while to regain your strength".

"I cannot", she whispered, trying hard to keep from blacking out.

"Princess, your effort is very noble", the monk finally turned and glanced into her sleepy eyes for a second, "But you shouldn't try to keep up with my endurance. You're useless to your people if you're exhausted when we meet the mutants again".

Liu quickly turned his attention back to the entrance.

"Please, my princess. Get some rest", he insisted, "It's for everyone's best interest".

He had expected her to protest again, but he heard nothing from Kitana this time. Liu stole another short glance in her direction to see that she had finally fallen asleep, most likely involuntarily.

"Sweet dreams, Princess", Liu sighed, still keeping his watch and anxiously waiting for Johnny.

Liu ultimately saw some movement from outside the cave's entrance after almost two more hours of waiting. Johnny showed himself as he carried the sword and the monk was happy, as always, to see Sonya by his side. Both kombatants entered the cavern as the sun was already up in the sky, giving Liu a chance to notice that Sonya was carrying her pistol in a shoulder holster.

"It took long enough", Liu commented as Johnny tossed him the sword.

"What're you talking about?", Johnny questioned, "I was gone for less than an hour".

"Rayden was not kidding when he warned us about the time shifts", Liu replied as he withdrew the sword from its sheath, "Now, _this_ should give me a fighting chance".

"What?", Kitana opened her eyes, awakened from her light sleep because Liu had raised his voice slightly after seeing the shiny blade.

Princess Kitana placed her left palm on her neck as her eyes widened because she realized she had fallen asleep, but her fears were eased when she saw Johnny and Sonya in the cave. Obviously, the kombatants were not a threat.

"Sonya, always good to see you", Kitana smiled.

"Same here, Princess", Sonya bowed her head in acknowledgment.

"So guys, wadda you say we kick these losers out?", Johnny spoke up, talking about the mutants, "I want to grab this Qarro character and kick his ass all the back to wherever the hell he came from. That is, if you guys feel up to it".

"I'm with you", Sonya echoed his belief.

"Me too", Liu told him, confident he had plenty of energy left.

"Same here", Kitana finalized the pact.

Kitana noticed Wreath opening her eyes. She reasoned it was for the better since she could've now told the Outworlders where some of them were headed. The heir to the throne walked up to Wreath and squatted next to her.

"How was your sleep?", she asked with a smile.

"Fine, Princess", Wreath answered as she saw Sonya for the first time, "What is going on?".

"We're going to finish this right now", Kitana let her know, "I will take my friends to the spot where I saw the mutants gathering before".

Wreath sat up, about to insist that she wanted to come along. Kitana saw it and placed her right index finger on Wreath's lips, interrupting that one before she even spoke.

"I want you stay here and watch over everyone else", Kitana requested, "I would not be able to concentrate on my efforts if I was worried about everyone else here. I need you to make sure they stay safe".

Wreath bowed her head without saying a word, not wanting to argue with her leader. Kitana stood back up, ready to lead the kombatants to their destination. As all four of them were headed outside, one of the other Outworlders woke up also, but Kitana just motioned him to go back to sleep. The man did not understand, but a look at Wreath told him she would explain when they were gone.

The large circle in the ground was still as empty as it had been when Princess Kitana had brought Johnny and Liu there before. All four kombatants were approximately standing in the middle of it, waiting for a sign of a challenge. Sonya had the sun at her back as she combed the surrounding hillside while her right hand was ready to grab the Glock from her shoulder holster. She had her eyes narrow and her jaw pressed hard as her pitch black outfit seemed to stand out against the pale purple sunlight while her blonde hair easily outshone the brightness from the sun. Muscles tense, she eagerly waited for the mutants.

Liu held the  
of the sword in his right hand as the razor-sharp blade was pointed towards the sky and it rested next to his right upper arm. While exercising a tight control over the weapon so as to make sure it did not injure him, he made sure his back was pointed at Sonya's back. Thus the two of them were looking out on either side of the circle.

"Where the hell are they?", Johnny thought out loud.

He was zealously keeping watch as he faced a ninety degree angle away from both Liu and Sonya. With Kitana behind him, watching the area in back of him, they had the entire circle covered. The only thing missing now were the mutants.

The kombatants did not have to wait long because all four fighters suddenly saw figures rising in the surrounding hills. All four twisted their face around, realizing the entire horizon was filled with adversaries who were closing in. Sonya was quick to withdrew the pistol, which she held with both hands as the barrel of the weapon was aimed towards the ground. Despite the handgun, just her quarter of the circle alone had more than twenty mutants walking towards it. An estimated two hundred mutants were closing in on the four fighters. Liu's sword was at the ready as the blade was held in front of his upper body, perfectly separating his face into two equal halves from behind it. Neither one of the four panicked or felt they had gotten careless. After all, they all knew the purpose of this confrontation was to simply lure Qarro into the scene.

"You are so afraid that you are forced to outnumber us when you accept our challenge?", Liu questioned in a loud enough manner for all the mutants to hear as those reached the circle's outer edges.

The mutants didn't respond, only kept their blades pointed towards the ground as they showed off their teeth.

"Come on, hot shots! What're you waiting for?", Johnny didn't retreat either, "I'm just waiting to continue the damage I was doing in the cave".

One of the mutants that Kitana was facing pointed at her small team with his hand. Close to him, the princess could clearly see the mutant whose blades she had cut off while inside the original cavern. That one seemed lost, as if the other mutants treated him like he was less without his knives.

"Qarro demands your surrender!", the mutant pointing at Kitana barked, "You will have your chance to fight when your courage is tested against the great one!".

Before any of the mutants charged ahead, Sonya saw someone else getting closer from behind them. This lone individual was not as big as the mutants and he clearly didn't have a blade attached to each arm. The first thought in her mind was that it might've been Qarro, but she kept her eyes on him until she could identify him further. As this person came closer, Sonya's eyes widened as she found herself looking at Scott. She saw that Scott was on his feet, walking as if he hadn't been injured at all. She was quiet until her partner from the Special Forces stopped behind the mutants themselves.

"Wow, nice reception you have here", Scott commented and drew the attention of the mutants and kombatants alike before Sonya could tell her friends that he was there.

"How?", she finally asked.

"It's a long story", Scott replied, "But it sure is great to see you guys again".

"Again?", Sonya repeated, "I left you in the hospital an hour ago, no?".

"Huh, yeah, I guess you did", Scott turned into his fighting stance as well, "Can I be of service now?".

None of the kombatants answered. They didn't have the time to. The next thing everyone heard was the mutants yelling out in a battle cry and charging towards their five enemies with blades at the ready. Having Scott away from the main group forced the mutants to diverge from their original plan to attack only the center of the circle. Some of them separated from the main group and rushed for Scott. The five humans were ready. They screamed in their own turn.

Sonya aimed her pistol at arm's length in front of her face with both hands and passionately began pulling the trigger. One bullet after another found a mark in a mutant because her opponents were so close together. The first mutant was hit in the chest once and he dropped with a scream as the others trampled on him in order to get to their opponent. A second mutant received three rounds in his upper body as he sank to the ground and was then crushed under the weight of the mutants behind him. A third mutant was shot twice in the head as his forehead exploded and he was thrown backwards towards the others. The mutants behind him only carried him for a brief moment before clumsily throwing him down on the ground, although the mutant didn't know that because he was already dead. A fourth mutant was hit in the stomach four times as the bullets mercilessly tore through his body. He stopped with a scream and dropped down on his knees. He was almost immediately pushed forward on his stomach because the mutants behind him wanted to get past. The left blade of the mutant directly behind the fourth hit mutant unintentionally impaled that one in the upper back in his rush forward. Realizing what happened, he then tried to withdraw his blade from the back of his mortally wounded comrade, but the blade was stuck and would not pull free in time. That mutant was himself violently thrown towards the ground and he screamed as he was mangled because the others stepped on him to get to Sonya.

The blonde kombatant, in her turn, was wishing she had a more advanced weapon in her possession. Realizing the mutants were closing in fast, she was about to drop the pistol on the ground because she clearly could not decimate them all. As she lowered her arms somewhat, she was able to pull the trigger six more times. The two mutants closest to her screamed as their legs were cut to pieces by the six bullets. They both dropped on the ground and they disappeared under the feet of the mutants behind them. Their screams were lost in the battle cry that all their comrades had generated.

With four more rounds left, Sonya was tackled head-on by an average mutant who weighed approximately 300 pounds. The impact forced her to lose the weapon, not that it would've done much good anyway at the present time. She was forced backwards as her three fellow kombatants were busy themselves. After pinning her back against the ground under his great weight and knocking the wind out of her, the mutant quickly stood up and grabbed her by the left strap of her tank top. The mutant easily lifted her into the air as the ones behind him stopped their forward rush. Sonya noticed that they could've killed her right there, but were restraining themselves. She reasoned that it was Qarro's orders to capture them alive because he wanted to have the pleasure of killing them himself. She reasoned she had nothing to lose if that was the case.

While still suspended in the air, Sonya grabbed the mutant's wrist as that one was surprised because he had believed her to be completely dazed. She wanted to prove him wrong. Using her pull against his wrist as leverage, Sonya lifted her waist up and pushed both her legs towards his stomach with all her strength. Both her feet slammed into the mutant's stomach and he gasped as he let go of her tank top, and with it she was freed. She landed on the ground on her feet, ready for another round as the mutants charged again.

Sonya kicked the first rushing mutant in the stomach as that one bent down in pain and was stopped cold. As she did, a second mutant violently smashed his own forehead into hers, knocking her down on her back. The same mutant roughly pulled her up to her feet as her vision was blurred. Before she got a chance to gather her concentration for another strike, the mutant gripped her wrists in his hands and secured them behind her. Her next thought was to try to kick at the nearest mutant in front of her. Before she was able to, however, another mutant headbutted her for the second time, not wholly knocking her out but definitely defeating her.

Kitana withdrew her fan with an easy flick of the fingers and sent it soaring towards the neck of the first mutant she saw. This time, though, the mutant knew what to expect and easily blocked the fan with a swing of his left arm. As another mutant reached her first, the princess twisted to her left as she bent her left leg towards the ground. Her right leg sweeped the area immediately in front of her and her right foot impacted into the ankle of the mutant, knocking him down on his side. As that one went down, Kitana stood and saw a second mutant jumping towards her as his arms were spread wide, intending to deliver a blunt, but effective, tackle. As that one was flying horizontally through the air and almost reached her, she delivered a sharp front kick, hitting him in the chin. That mutant's head snapped back as his flight forward was cut short and he fell on the ground and landed on top of the one who was sweeped before him.

As Kitana turned her attention to the third mutant she saw, she received a painful kick to the stomach from one of his comrades. She bent down, her right forearm pressed into her stomach and gasping for breath as she tried to stay in the fight. Before being able to stand back up straight, she felt a mutant's elbow crashing into the back of her head. Coming down on the ground, she was on her hands and knees as she tried to adapt to the pain. A mutant gripped her by the neck and triumphantly lifted her off the ground. Hearing her scream only encouraged the mutant who held her two feet above the ground as she grabbed his wrist to ease the pressure on her neck.

Staring into the mutant's grinning face, Kitana let her right hand go of his wrist and delivered an uppercut into his chin. She was able to reach his face because the mutant's restraining arm was bent at the elbow while it was horizontal to the ground. The mutant's head snapped back and the hand that held her captive shook, but his grip did not loosen. Kitana's reward for her action was a painful headbutt from another mutant slamming hard into her face. She felt herself losing consciousness as her head snapped as far back as it could in the mutant's grasp and her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

Johnny didn't wait for the mutants to reach him. The kombatant rushed forward and executed a flying kick into the mutant who was directly ahead. The mutant fell backwards and crashed into two of his comrades. Back on his feet, the kombatant saw a blade sailing through the air, aimed directly at his throat. He delivered a swift front kick and his foot slammed into the blade from under it, knocking it up and backwards, and with it the hand of the mutant who swung. As that mutant's hand was thrown up, Johnny jumped up and gripped that one's wrist. Swinging on the mutant's raised hand before that one even realized what was happening, the actor lifted his legs in front of his stomach and kicked out. His strike simultaneously sent both his feet into the head of the nearest mutant, knocking that one's senses apart.

Johnny then let go of the mutant's arm and came back down on his own feet. As the mutant he had used was about to strike again, the kombatant delivered a high roundhouse kick. The back of his ankle smashed into his adversary's head and knocked that one down on his side. Without stopping to see the result, Johnny next sent his right foot into the chest of another mutant, knocking that one back into the crowd. As that happened, two mutants tackled him at once, slamming his back into the ground under their combined 600 pounds and permanently knocking the wind out of him.

Liu swung his sword as the first mutant came at him waving his blades back and forth. The monk's sword contacted with the mutant's right blade at the source and instantly cut it off. The mutant screamed in shock as he brought his left blade forward, ready to strike. Before he was able to deliver the blow, Liu ducked and impaled him in the stomach with the sword. Screaming, the mutant staggered backwards and the monk took advantage of it to pull out the bloody sword. Seeing a second mutant reaching him, Liu secured the sword by his side and jumped into the air, delivering a bicycle kick. His feet repeatedly hit the mutant's chest as that one staggered back. As he felt he was about to come back down on the ground, Liu raised his sword and drove it forward with all his upper body strength. The blade from the sword penetrated the mutant's head right in between the eyes and almost exited out the back of his head. The monk withdrew the sword as he landed back on the ground.

Liu was ready for more as the second dead mutant came down on his knees without a sound. Seeing two mutants charging towards him at the same time, the White Lotus member gripped the sword's handle as he held it horizontally. He then threw the weapon and the sword flew through the air. The sword found its mark, as intended, and impaled the mutant on the left through the neck. That one gasped and was thrown backwards before he crashed down on his back, leaving Liu alone to face the mutant on the right. The forward rush of that one was cut short as Liu met him with a devastating flying kick which sent him flying backwards into the air.

Coming back on the ground, the monk suddenly felt a mutant's strong hand gripping his face. Before he had a chance to fight back, the mutant swung his head backwards and down. Liu's legs were flown up into the air as his upper body raced towards the ground. The back of his head crashed into the hard ground. The loss of concentration meant Liu was helpless and thus a prisoner.

Scott jumped up and sent an uppercut into the chin of the first mutant who reached him. That one's head snapped upwards as he saw stars and Scott let him go to move on to the others. A twist to his right sent his left foot aimed into a second mutant's chest. That second mutant involuntarily flew backwards and up before landing back on his feet, dazed. Scott would've preferred to stay in order to deliver more punishment, but the presence of a countless number of opponents meant he could not concentrate on any one of them.

He screamed at himself as his roundhouse kick smashed into a third mutant's head, knocking that one down and loosening most of his teeth. The ninja felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as a mutant had crashed his own forehead into him from behind, still preferring to offer him as a live sacrifice to Qarro. Turning around, Scott blocked out the pain and jumped up towards his attacker, gripping that one's head with both hands as he was in the air. Before that one or any of his comrades could react, the ninja came back down on his right foot as he bent his left knee. Being pulled forward, the mutant's face crashed into Scott's knee and he fell backwards after the ninja let him go.

"Anybody else want a taste of that?", he asked back in his fighting stance as over fifteen mutants surrounded him.

They all charged at once. The ninja was able to jump up on his right leg as he twisted to his right and aimed his left leg as high as possible. The bottom of his left foot impacted into a mutant's chin, delivering some major pain as that one screamed. Two other mutants grabbed him from behind as he was coming back down on his feet, restraining the use of his arms. A split second later, Scott was kicked in the stomach by one mutant and headbutted by another. The restraining mutants next threw him down on the ground. He would've been able to stand, but he looked up just in time to see another mutant lifting a hideous foot. With the mutant's entire weight behind the leg, that one brought his foot down hard into the ninja's head, knocking him senseless.

All five humans were forced together as the mutants abandoned their dead comrades and were eyeing the prisoners as if they were nothing but a zoo exhibit. Every human was restrained from behind by a larger mutant as the rest of their adversaries roughly surrounded them. Each fighter was trying to come up with his or her own plan of getting the team out alive when the mutant who had originally demanded their surrender spoke again.

"We were only told to bring back four humans", he grinned, revealing more of his ugly teeth, "So one of you is not needed here".

The humans waited for him to make his point, so he did.

"Perhaps we will let you live long enough to see the great one", the mutant went on, enjoying his position of authority, "But only if the best two among you fight one another".

The mutant turned his attention to his comrades, nonverbally asking them for their opinion. He didn't have to wait long because all the others in the group either cheered at the idea or smiled in approval.

"Who should it be? Who was the best?", the leading mutant asked his friends, carefully trying to listen as dozens of mutants spoke at once and pointed at different fighters.

"You have got to be kidding me", Johnny whispered under his breath as the head mutant turned his attention towards the kombatants again.

"The majority vote claims it is him and him", the mutant pointed at Liu and Scott as both guys didn't feel the least bit flattered.

"It wasn't my personal choice, but majority rules", the mutant grinned again.

"In your dreams, ugly", Scott replied loud enough to be heard by everyone.

"You _will_ do it", the chief mutant approached the team and placed the tip of his left blade against Kitana's throat, "Unless of course you would like me to turn this one over to my men, _after_ she's missing her head".

Scott locked eyes with Liu, the mutant's words echoing in both their minds.

"Come on, humans!", the mutant cheerfully clapped his hands together, "Sacrifice is the name of the game! That is all the verbal encouragement you are going to get. I start slicing next".

Scott was unceremoniously shoved away from the other fighters as his restraining mutant let him go. Liu followed one moment after. Both gladiators stood straight, only staring at each other, wondering how much they'd be able to do in order to save the team presently.

"Fight! Come on!", the chief mutant bolstered.

Both humans turned to their fighting stance, but still remained immobile afterwards as they faced each other. Scott's eyes read the calm expression on Liu's face as the monk was trying to communicate with him. A sacrifice would have to be made, perhaps by all the human fighters at the scene sooner or later. Both their experiences had taught them that nothing was more important than the welfare of the team, and the team had to be given the best chance of survival. Knowing what had to be done, Scott and Liu slowly approached each other, trying to block out the screams of the mutants. Then, as the fight was about to begin, Scott turned his face towards the other three team mates.

"Trash'em, guys!", the ninja exclaimed.

Scott flew towards the direction of the mutant closest to him in a kick as Liu charged towards the head mutant. Scott's foot slammed into his mutant's stomach and that one dropped to the ground with a dislocated spine. Landing back on his feet, the ninja looked around as other mutants charged at him. Liu reached the chief mutant and stopped a single step away. As that one tried to swing his left arm, the monk jumped vertically up and planted both his feet into that one's chest, knocking him backwards. As he staggered back, the mutant proved to be strong enough to keep from falling on the ground. He then tried to charge back towards the human. He didn't get a chance to because the monk had already reached him instead. Liu jumped up as he pulled his own upper body back. He turned upside down and his hands met the ground as his straightened legs shot up. His feet slammed into the mutant's chin, finally knocking that one unconscious.

Johnny drove his own head up and backwards as the back of his head crashed into the chin of his restraining mutant, releasing that one's grip on the kombatant. Twisting around, Johnny sent his right fist into his adversary's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. An uppercut into that one's chin worsened the headache he already had and sent him staggering backwards.

With the mutant securing her arms behind her back, Sonya knew her only option was to use her lower body. She smoothly pulled her thighs towards her stomach, keeping her legs as straight as possible. The mutant was caught off-guard as he saw her lifting her legs in a vertical position as her lower back was almost horizontal to the ground. His powerful hold on her upper arms was the only thing keeping her in the air. Before he knew it, the kombatant had her ankles wrapped around his neck. The mutant released his grip on her arms to try to fight back. He found himself being tossed forward as Sonya pulled her legs back in front of her and towards the ground. The mutant flew over her with a scream and landed on the ground ahead on his stomach as she fell straight down and landed on her back. As both adversaries stood, the human reacted first as she reached him. She twisted to her left and her right leg smoothly shot up towards his face. The mutant felt her right foot impacting into his chin, putting him out of the fight.

Kitana stomped on the foot of her restraining mutant with her own right foot. As that one momentarily loosened the grip on her arms, she pulled free. She next reached up and gripped the back of his neck with her right hand, pulling his face downward. Before the mutant realized what was happening, his face was pulled down until it was at the same level as hers. Kitana released the hold on the back of his neck and swung her left elbow into his nose, possibly breaking it. The mutant screamed as he stood straight and held his damaged nose.

Kitana next looked around. The humans were definitely more talented than the mutants, but the mutants had them greatly outnumbered, thus unavoidably dividing their concentration. Each fighter had numerous mutants rushing up to replace the one who was just defeated.

Scott was readying for the mutant he saw approaching. If he was calmer, he would've noticed the mutant who also reached him from behind as that one carried a large stone club. The mutant could've swung with his blade, killing the ninja instantly, but he preferred to restrain him while that one was alive since the great one wanted four captives alive. Thus, he raised the stone club, which was roughly the shape of a baseball bat, but larger. Scott's head arched backwards as the mutant's weapon crashed into the back of his head. Hating himself for not feeling the enemy from behind, the ninja fell forward and landed on the ground before the mutant who was rushing ahead even reached him. The last thing he remembered seeing was the mutant picking him off the ground. Then only stars followed.

Liu executed a flying kick towards a mutant, wishing to reach him with the right, straightened leg before that one reached him. Expecting it, the mutant dodged to his own right. He also raised his left hand and pointed the left blade towards the direction of the airborne kombatant. Liu's eyes widened as he realized he could not stop himself or change direction in midair. The monk's right leg met air before he felt the mutant's blade entering his left hip. An explosion of blood followed as Liu screamed and the mutant triumphantly pulled the blade out of him. The human crashed down on the ground on his back as pain overcame him. He saw the mutant raising the bloody left blade over his head, readying to swing it downward into the monk for a finishing move. Before the mutant was able to deliver the fatal blow, Liu saw a flash slamming into that one's chest. The mutant staggered backwards as Johnny landed on the ground after having executed his patented flying shadow kick. The actor stepped over Liu and positioned himself between the wounded monk and the two charging mutants who were closing in.

Sonya had planned to execute another high kick into the second mutant she spotted. As her right leg flew upwards, aimed at his chest, her adversary proved to be too quick this time. He easily gripped her right ankle in his left hand. Gasping, the lady kombatant's eyes widened as she realized she only stood on one leg and was at his mercy. Desiring to please the great one's wishes by bringing the humans to him alive, the mutant pulled her right leg towards him as he stepped backwards. Sonya was involuntarily pulled upwards and towards him as he next yanked her off the ground. Before she knew it, she was upside down as her adversary gladly gripped her right ankle in his left hand and her right knee in his other hand. Not knowing what to expect in that split second, she felt the pain as the mutant easily broke her right leg between the knee and the ankle. The edge of her broken shinbone pierced her skin and then tore through the commando pants.

"AAAAAHHH!! YOU SON OF A BIIIIIIITCH!!", she screamed out while still held upside down, "OOOOOOOOGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!".

The massive mutant, who was at least a foot taller, held on to her broken leg with his left hand alone. He then simply tossed her several steps away as easily as one could throw a doll. Sonya remained lying on her side on the ground as her body was curled in a ball and she held her right thigh.

"HHHHAAAAIIIIIII", she had her eyes closed as the pain paralyzed her.

As Kitana was readying for a confrontation with a mutant, she received a severe blow to the head from a mutant's fist. Staggering to one side, she looked up to see the mutant whose blades were missing because of her paper fans in the cave. She swung a punch towards him as a diversion. While the mutant tried to get out of the way, she sent the real front kick into his stomach. Her adversary was not about to be defeated, though, and he sent a second punch into her face before following it with a kick into her stomach. Kitana dropped to her hands and knees, already tasting blood in her mouth as she tried to stand back up. Before she was able to, the mutant kicked her in the head again, tossing her around on the ground before she landed on her back. She barely stood up in time to feel her opponent grip the back of her neck with his left hand. The next thing she felt was his right fist shattering her face. A second identical punch sounded like a cannon firing in her mind as her head snapped backwards and to the right, still without being able to get out of the mutant's left grip. She stopped counting the continuing number right fists to her face after the third hit. After that, she lost count because she didn't feel any more pain as she was helplessly punched in the head many more times. When it was finally over, she saw nothing but black as she fell down on the ground, unconscious.

Johnny found himself to be alone as the two mutants stopped several steps away from him, each in a stance. The kombatant noticed that, since his team mates were down, the other mutants didn't even bother to attack him. The others were happy to watch as two of their comrades faced off against the lone remaining human. As the two mutants were about to attack simultaneously, one of them felt a soft impact from behind him. Scott jumped on the back of the seven-foot tall mutant before any of the others noticed he was even awake. The ninja wrapped his legs around his adversary's stomach and swiftly pressed his palms of both sides of the mutant's head. Before the mutant had a chance to reach for the ninja behind him with his blades, that one twisted his head to the left and broke his neck. A distinct breaking sound followed as the mutant fell forward dead. Scott jumped off the corpse's back and planted his feet securely on the ground.

"Let's try for a fair fight, shall we?", he asked as he and Johnny stood ready for more.

With Kitana unconscious, Sonya helpless on the ground and Liu busy trying to simply keep himself from bleeding to death, Scott and Johnny were alone as they braced themselves.

"STOP!", a harsh voice ordered from nowhere that the humans could see.

All the mutants instantly gave up their ideas of attacking the two remaining fighters and stood straight, as if at attention.

"YOU HAVE PROVED YOURSELVES WORTHY", the voice continued, addressing the humans, "NOW COMES THE ULTIMATE TEST. THE TEST WHERE YOU FACE ME".

"And who are you?", Scott spoke up.

"I AM QARRO", the voice explained, "THIS WAS ALL A TEST TO SEE IF YOU WERE WORTHY. IF YOU CAN DEFEAT ME, YOU MAY ALL LEAVE. PICK THE BEST AMONG YOU".

"Well, come on, then!", Johnny was getting annoyed at not being able to see who they were talking to.

There was silence, indicating the calm before the storm.

"The best. Who's the best?", Johnny locked eyes with Scott and whispered for the few moments that they had to themselves.

Scott didn't answer, he was too busy considering the options.

"The best at the tournament was Liu", the actor went on, knowing the monk could hear since he was lying injured nearby.

"I can still do this", Liu offered, trying to stand up.

"Come on, Liu", Scott reasoned, motioning him back, "You've got a hole where your hip should be. I know you're a samurai type, but think about it, man. If that's a Shokanite out there, you won't have a prayer".

The ninja turned his attention to Johnny, having his opinion as to who should represent them.

"I know you beat Goro in the tournament", Scott explained, "But it was because he went flying over a hillside. I trained against Durak on flat ground for Rayden knows how many months".

"Really?", the actor asked.

"That's right", the ninja told him, "I think I've got a better chance".

"Did you ever beat Durak?", Johnny wanted to know.

"Nooo", the ninja widened his eyes, nonverbally telling him that was impossible.

Just then, everyone heard a constant step approaching. The sound from the stride became louder as a figure appeared some distance away. All the humans who were awake watched intently as each mutant bowed his head. Scott and Johnny did a good job in remaining calm as they both breathed evenly to keep from panicking or getting nervous. The figure came closer and the humans were able to see the odd shape it had. They kept wondering what Qarro was since he was clearly not a Shokanite. They were still trying to imagine when Qarro stopped about fifteen steps away from the two remaining fighters. The mutants cleared the way and formed two neat, organized lines on either side of him.

"What the _hell_ are you supposed to be?", Scott spoke first.

"I am a Centaur", Qarro replied, "Take a good look because I will be the last thing you will see, assuming you were chosen to fight for your group".

Scott turned his face to Johnny again because they knew they still weren't in agreement over letting the ninja represent the humans.

"You really wanna do this?", Johnny asked, giving him one last chance to change his mind if he didn't want to fight the half man/half horse.

"Yeah", Scott turned his attention back to Qarro, examining his opponent.

That one's muscular upper body looked exactly like a human's, except that he had horns on his head. Scott also told himself that the face looked extremely repulsive as he guessed the Centaur's height from head to toe to be just under eight feet tall.

"Well, which one is it?", Qarro demanded.

"Imagine", Scott whispered to Johnny, "He comes in here, shooting his big mouth off, _pretending_ to have class, and he expects me to be impressed. Yeah, he's mine".

"OK", the actor conceded as he stepped backwards, "Good luck".

"Thank you", the ninja whispered back.

Qarro understood who his human opponent was as he saw Johnny helping Liu away from Scott as the ninja stood his ground, staring calmly into the Centaur's eyes. Sonya and Kitana were already among the mutants as those stood at attention, so neither one had to be moved.

"Just avoid his legs, kiddo. You can do this", Scott told himself as he turned into his fighting stance, "God, I wish Durak was here".

Qarro placed his hands together as he lowered his head until his horns touched his wrists.

"Master Motaro, guide me", the Centaur said out loud.

"Who're you talking to?", Scott looked around, "Who's Motaro?".

"QUIET, YOU MISCREANT!", the Centaur thundered, "NEVER USE THE GREAT ONE'S NAME!".

"Yeah, well. It won't mean much when I cut off your horns and I shove'em down his throat", the ninja commented, looking to anger his opponent.

It worked because Qarro opened his mouth and let loose the loudest scream Scott had heard. The ninja screamed in his own turn as the rage shot through him.

The ninja and the Centaur charged towards each other. Not unexpectedly to Qarro, Scott soon changed form and executed a flying kick instead of meeting him head-on. With the Centaur running with all his power, the ninja's right foot slammed hard into his stomach. Upon impact, Qarro was stopped cold in his tracks and Scott involuntarily bounced off him. The human flew backwards into the air before falling on his back about five steps away. Not disheartened, Scott jumped back on his feet and charged for his adversary again.

Reaching him, the human saw that Qarro was too tall to be kicked down as he stood presently. The Centaur swung with his muscular right arm, meeting air as Scott ducked in time. Before his opponent was able to strike again, the ninja intentionally dropped to the ground and executed a smooth leg sweep. The Centaur's left front leg was caught in the sweep and it bent under the pressure. Since his right front leg wasn't strong enough to support his human upper body, the right front leg buckled also. The back of Qarro's front thighs touched the back of his calves as he dropped on his knees. As the Centaur was getting up, the ninja was already on his feet, thus proving that he was the faster of the two. Before his adversary had been able to stand up straight, Scott executed a roundhouse kick. The back of the human's ankle slammed into the Centaur's head and knocked Qarro down on his side. A small earthquake seemed to follow as Johnny gasped a sigh of relief at the result.

Before Qarro was back on his feet, Scott jumped on the Centaur's back and locked his arms around that one's throat, almost as if he was riding on a horse. While he planned to deliver any punishment he could think of from the back of the Centaur's head, that one stood up tall. Before the ninja could do anything, Qarro quickly reached up behind his human-like back with both his hands. He grabbed Scott by the shoulders and threw him forward.

"GET OFF, COCKROACH!", the Centaur yelled as Scott was airborne.

The ninja flew in a semicircle over Qarro's head and crashed face-first into the ground, sliding for several feet before stopping on his own. He pulled up his bruised face to see his opponent reaching him fast. With Scott still on the ground, the Centaur stopped one step away and rose up on his hind legs. Scott's eyes widened as he realized Qarro was planning to come down on him. The ninja froze as he saw Qarro's front horseshoes coming down towards his face. He was about to be crushed.

Everyone among the audience had left Sonya alone after she was seen lying on the ground with her injury. Since none of the mutants paid any attention to her, thinking she was no longer a threat, she was able to crawl undetected to where her Glock rested on the ground. Knowing the pistol had four more good bullets in it, she had picked it up just in time to see Scott as he was about to lose the match in a very painful way. Still breathing hard and pressing her teeth together because of the pain, she decided to act. Not caring about any of the preconditions that were set beforehand, Sonya aimed the weapon at the Centaur and pulled the trigger four times. She missed one shot, but three of the four rounds hit Qarro in the chest as he was aiming his front legs downwards and towards the ninja's face. The bullets barely broke the surface of Qarro's skin, although they pushed him one step backwards and thus his front legs slammed into the ground in front of Scott. The shooting obviously didn't hurt the Centaur, it only angered him further.

The audience's attention was suddenly turned to Sonya as she was still on the ground and dropped the empty handgun. While Scott took advantage of the chance she had offered him by getting back up to his feet, a 300 pound mutant intentionally stepped on her right knee. The heavy pressure only worsened her condition because the mutant had intentionally stepped on the leg whose bone was already broken. Sonya's eyes and mouth opened wide and she gasped since she was unable to scream. She saw everything becoming dimmer before she passed out.

"Dammit, man", Johnny was heard saying before a mutant restrained him to make sure he wouldn't interfere with the fight either.

Scott stood up and became more enraged than ever when he saw the kombatant who had saved his life passing out.

"DON'T HURT SONYA!!", he yelled at the mutant who had stepped on her leg.

Forgetting about the Centaur, the ninja actually took a step towards the aggressive mutant before he remembered that Qarro was still behind him. Before that one was able to take advantage of the ninja's carelessness, Scott quickly turned back to him and punched him in the head with a right fist. The human broke his right hand because of that blow, but he didn't know it then as Qarro staggered three steps to the right under the surprisingly strong hit.

Qarro struck back, his fist colliding into the ninja's jaw. The Centaur expected the human to drop to the ground after that single hit, but he was disappointed because Scott was still on his feet. The human twisted to his right and sent his left foot into Qarro's stomach, forcing that one to bend down, though only momentarily. Before Scott could strike at his lowered head, the Centaur next kicked the ninja with his right front leg. The front leg slammed into Scott's chest and lifted him two feet off the ground before he flew backwards into the air. The Centaur galloped towards him to finish the fight before the human could get back up. Qarro reached the ninja in time and bent his upper body down, sending his own head crashing towards the ground. If his horns had hit Scott, he was sure he would've been looking at a corpse when he lifted his head back up. The human, however, proved to be too quick again and rolled aside as the Centaur's horns hit the ground under him instead.

The Centaur stood back up, unhurt, as Scott stood and kicked him in the side of the right front knee. Squirming from the sudden pain, Qarro didn't have time to adjust because the ninja followed it up with another sharp kick to his midsection. Bending down again, the Centaur next felt the human's front kick in his chin. It was a hit which hurt both Scott's foot and Qarro's head, but the Centaur staggered backwards while the human stood his ground. As soon as he stopped staggering backwards, Qarro looked ahead to see the ninja flying towards him again, his momentum having picked up. Scott's foot impacted into his opponent's stomach and, as that one bent down again, the human reached up and grabbed his horns before landing on the ground. As Scott was being pulled down on his feet after the flying kick, he hung on to the Centaur's horns. He raised his legs horizontally ahead of his stomach and twisted his body as far to the left as possible. Scott's upper back impacted with the ground at the same time as Qarro's head did.

They both stood up, Scott feeling a sharp pain in his stomach as his adrenaline rushed him forward and he saw the Centaur dazed. Qarro was seeing double as he swung at the ninja's head with a scream, his fist crashing into the human's head. He followed it up with a second punch into that one's stomach. It was all to no avail, because the human's body seemed to absorb his attacks without getting hurt. Ignoring his own wounds, Scott answered with a front kick to the Centaur's stomach. The strike aggravated that one's daze as the Centaur forgot his mission to kill the human and only began worrying about his survival.

"Come back when you've learned how to fight!", Scott blurted out as he noticed Qarro's desperation.

The human intended to take advantage of it.

"You...", Scott twisted to his right and sent his left fist into Qarro's jaw, disorienting that one more.

"Mother...", the ninja twisted to his left and punched the sluggish opponent in the jaw with his right fist, shattering the already broken bones in that hand but not feeling it.

"Fucker...!", Scott finished it with a third punch to the Centaur's jaw, this time with his left fist again.

Qarro's head snapped back as he gave out a gruesome yell and he fell partly on his side and backwards. Scott knew he was nothing but a corpse as soon as his body crashed on the ground, immobile. The pain, injuries and exhaustion finally overcame the ninja and he passed out two steps away from the Centaur.

Johnny noticed that the screaming suddenly ceased. The two fighters were quiet and the mutants didn't feel like cheering any more. The mutant who was restraining the actor let him go, shocked at seeing his leader lose by dropping to the ground before the human did. The only sound the kombatant could hear presently was his breathing. Liu didn't make any sounds as he kept pressing his blood-soaked shirt into his hip, trying to stop the bleeding and stay awake at the same time. Before the actor could claim victory, though, he heard a steady and massive step approaching from the direction where Scott and Qarro were positioned.

The kombatant soon saw a second Centaur coming closer to the bodies of the two fighters. As that one came into clearer view, Johnny examined him. He noticed that, despite the great size of both Centaurs, the one who was alive was obviously several inches taller, and thus heavier, than Qarro.

"LEAVE US!", the new Centaur demanded as he was still approaching Qarro's carcass.

The mutants were quick to obey. They all hurried towards the hills where the second Centaur had emerged, leaving the kombatants and Qarro's body alone with the new visitor. Johnny knew that Sonya, Kitana and Scott were unconscious, and Liu was not in any state to put up a fight. So if the new Centaur wanted to destroy all four fighters, he would have no problems whatsoever. Johnny couldn't allow that, obviously. Thus, the last remaining healthy fighter on the humans' side carefully walked towards the advancing Centaur. He first stepped over Scott's unconscious body and took half a dozen more steps past Qarro's corpse. He stopped there and turned into his fighting stance, as the new Centaur stopped also from about ten steps away.

"Who the hell are _you_?", Johnny demanded.

"I am Motaro, the great one", the Centaur responded, proud to say his own name, "I was born to destroy humans".

"If you want to get to them, you have to get past me first", the kombatant told him what he should've already known.

"Not presently", Motaro gave an evil smile, "This was simply a test of my students' might. Qarro was chosen at random in order to show me how trained they were until now. We will not come to your realm until _every_ one of my students is able to defeat the best human warriors anywhere. This shows me that they are not yet ready".

Motaro then placed his hands together, praying in a foreign language. A few seconds later, a red lightning bolt shot out of the sky and accurately hit Qarro's body, scaring Johnny somewhat because he was standing so close to it. Qarro's body went up in flames instantly as the kombatant began to smell the burning flesh. Grinning that the human was shaken as the lightning bolt struck, Motaro turned around and began walking away.

"His defeat gives you some more time, human", he said as he was leaving, "I suggest you use it wisely, although whatever efforts you will give will only delay the inevitable when we come to conquer. You should put forth your best efforts so as to have a clean conscience when you lose. Because we _will_ be coming for your realm, and you will not be able to stop us".

Without saying anything else, Motaro went back into the hill where he had emerged from. With the Centaur's words echoing in his mind, Johnny's first move was to pull Scott away from Qarro's burning body. He next looked over his friends, realizing he was the only one awake because Liu had just passed out also.

"Uh, Rayden?", the kombatant called out, "Open up the portal to Earth, will you?".

Johnny told himself that it was going to be hell to carry all four fighters through.

XXXXXXXXXXEPILOGUEXXXXXXXXXX

Scott was seated on the bar stool drinking a glass of cold orange juice. He noticed that he must've been the only person in the bar with such a drink. He stared at himself in the mirror while he remembered all the bruises on his body that were covered by his clothes. Even the several feet of space between him and the mirror couldn't conceal his split lower lip and two black eyes. He lowered the half-empty glass of orange juice on the bar counter with his left hand because his right hand was in a cast. On the bar stool next to him sat the bully that he had confronted in this bar both before and after acquiring his clone's body. He had already found out that the man's name was Abram and they were busy discussing an idea Scott had brought him.

"I'm telling you, man, talk to Liu. He's a good teacher", Scott told Abram, "We're not talking about turning you into a ninja or anything like that, but the training _will_ help you control your temper. He could show you some exercises that you can do by yourself when you're alone. I'm sure of it".

As Abram was still considering the idea in his head, Sonya came into the bar looking a bit worried. She was moving slowly because her right leg was in a cast and she was supporting herself on crutches.

"Everything OK here?", she asked as she came closer to them both, noticing Abram for the first time.

"Yeah, we were just talking", Scott answered as he stood up.

Sonya rested the two crutches against the nearest empty table and hopped on her left foot towards the chair around the table that was closest to her. As she was finally able to sit down, Scott offered another chair from the table so she could rest the right leg.

"Oh, thank you", she replied as she placed the broken leg on it.

"I _am_ glad to see you, but what're you doing here?", the ninja asked her.

"Liu said you were going to the bar. I was worried", she responded.

"Oh", he said, "And how did you get here? You didn't walk, did you?".

"No way", she went on, "Liu drove. He and Kitana are still outside wondering what to do with the car".

"Liu has driver's license for this city?", Scott was curious.

"I dunno. Who cares?", Sonya smiled, "I'm here now and you can drive us back".

"Sure thing", he walked over to behind her chair.

As she was still trying to get the feel for the chair, Scott gently pulled back her blonde hair and kissed her on the neck. Sonya moaned softly and smiled.

"Excuse me, but _some_ of us are trying to eat here", Abram protested.

"Yeah, well, if you don't like it, then don't look", Sonya chuckled.

Liu and Kitana followed. The Princess's face was badly swollen while the monk was just beginning to be able to walk again.

"Pull up a chair, guys", Scott addressed them both.

"I _should_ wait around until it happens", Kitana was in the middle of a conversation with Liu as they reached the ninja, "It would only be fair".

Just then, the bartender had a remote control which he used to increase the volume of the television set that hung near the ceiling. A news reporter was giving a summary of what he already knew.

"...world-famous actor Johnny Cage, who had become a hero both on the screen and off of it after his brave attempt to foil the militants in our nation's capital, was leaving Washington DC for Hong Kong today", the reporter went on, "He had refused to say why. Fans gathered around for autographs which he was busy signing until the very last minute. We hope to see him again".

The topic on the news changed as the fighters in the room knew the reason for Johnny's departure.

"He wants to talk to Jax", Sonya sighed, wishing she could travel with him, "To tell Jax everything that he told us and maybe the major will be able to convince his superiors and they'll let the president know".

"Good", Scott finished his glass in a single swallow.

"The doc said it's a minimum of six weeks before the cast can be taken off", Sonya went on, addressing no one in particular, "Only _then_ can the real training restart. Until then, we just have to wait and I wish I didn't have to. We _gotta_ be better than we were before when they come. If Qarro was a mere student and Motaro promised to train them some more, we've got a major problem".

"You're telling me", Scott replied.

"I mean, you barely finished Qarro and it was only after I shot mister four-legs", she continued, "I saw what happened when I shot him, he barely felt the 9mm going into him".

A chill overtook Sonya and she involuntarily shivered.

"The Centaurs are coming", she finished, "And they're not friendly".


	7. Final Confrontation 7

Neckor galloped as fast as his four legs could carry him as he chased the herd of Centaurs while those were about fifty yards ahead. The group's final run around the fields was coming to a close as the thirty Centaurs reached their destination. All the members turned to the left and kept galloping as they came upon Motaro. Charging for about twenty yards towards the left, they didn't stop once they saw the side of a mountain blocking their path. Instead, each Centaur rushed directly towards the nearly vertical natural wall with his head lowered ahead of the rest of his upper body. One Centaur after another slammed his horns into the side of the mountain in an effort to knock out as much stone as possible. Neckor reached the others in the group only a few seconds afterwards, but his lateness was noticed by Motaro, who kept a watchful eye over the entire crowd.

Once all thirty students were finished charging into the mountain side, they stopped and quieted down as they saw Motaro approaching them. The deep blue night sky of the Centaurs' realm surrounded that one's shoulders from behind as he came closer, his facial expression telling the nervous students nothing about his plans. Motaro passed a number of the students as he proceeded towards Neckor, the relatively young Centaur getting more nervous as he came near. Motaro was easily the largest figure there, so he knew he had to look downwards whenever he wished to talk to another Centaur. It was only a matter of how much he was forced to lower his face to make eye contact with students. The tense and cool air was silent as their master reached the student who had arrived late and stood directly in front of him, locking eyes with that one.

"You were slow!", Motaro exclaimed as he violently slapped the student across the face.

The slap was strong enough so that it sent Neckor's face twisting aside, but it was only an embarrassment. It was known that such a strike wouldn't even come close to injuring a Centaur. The slap was meant as a warning and it was realized, especially since Motaro wasn't known for giving many second chances.

"It will not happen again", Neckor lowered his head.

Motaro grunted while stepping away, being sure to let the student know that he was dangerously close to being punished. As their trainer proceeded deeper into the fields, the students followed, knowing the physical exercise was not finished yet. Tuma, the only other Centaur in the group who even came close to being identified as a friend, approached Neckor from the side as they trailed their leader.

"That was close", Tuma whispered to him in a scolding voice, "Be more careful".

Their next assignment was the exact copy of the procedure that had ended the run around the fields. They were led towards the side of another mountain and watched briefly as Motaro lowered his head and dashed into it. His horns impacted into his intended target and large pieces of rocks were shattered off the mountain side. The chief Centaur raised his head as he proudly surveyed the amount of rocks that were knocked loose on the ground near his front feet. He next motioned the first student in the group who was behind him to copy his actions. That Centaur lowered his head and bolted into the mountain side as well, knocking loose a fair amount of rocks, though clearly less than the leader. Motaro said nothing as he turned his attention at the second student in the group, nonverbally telling the first that the result was acceptable. The second Centaur rushed ahead also.

The routine continued until it was Neckor's turn and the young Centaur lowered his head and aimed for the mountain as well. He ran forward with all his strength, but his legs were still overworked after the run around the fields. His horns slammed into the rocky mountain side and he felt the impact. Raising his head, he viewed the damage done. Although the area hit showed signs of the collision, almost no rocks were knocked loose.

"YOUR SECOND FAILURE!", Motaro thundered, startling all the students.

Neckor was speechless. He didn't know how to respond as fear overtook him. The next sight seen was Motaro pointing at two large Centaur guards, although they still were not as big as him. Both guards approached the group of students and quickly restrained Neckor before dragging the timid Centaur away. None of the students dared to utter a word as all quietly watched, realizing Neckor had failed in his mission to reach physical purity. Tuma saw Neckor being forced into a small cavern about five hundred yards away which had a tiny opening at the ceiling. The dreaded cave had been at that sight ever since the first day the students arrived for training. The fact that it was open at the top and allowed anyone inside to see the sky had indicated to the students that it was artificial. None of them had been allowed to come near it during their long hours of practice and they had only witnessed condemned Centaurs being driven there. The students also knew that no condemned Centaur ever left the artificial cavern alive. Neckor remembered that last fact also as he finally noticed where he was being led and turned to face Motaro.

"No! Please, great one!", the doomed Centaur pleaded as the two stone-faced guards kept pulling him away, "Have mercy!".

Motaro only watched as Neckor was then pushed into the only entrance of the cavern. The guards then worked together to place a large and heavy stone ball at the entrance, thus making it impossible for him to leave. The chief Centaur then placed his hands together and prayed for a few seconds in a language even the students or the guards couldn't understand. Tuma heard Neckor screaming as a red lightning bolt shot out of the sky and entered the cavern through the small opening in the ceiling. Neckor's screams stopped after a few seconds as smoke then rose from the hole. Seeing it, Motaro turned his attention back to his students. The workout wasn't over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You wish to speak to me?", Motaro didn't bother to hide his belief in his superiority as he slowly marched into Shao Kahn's castle.

Emperor Shao Kahn was seated at his throne with Shang Tsung standing by his side as his second-in-command. They had both been waiting for the head of the Centaurs to finally come into the room.

"Yes", Shao Kahn replied, "I believe you already know what this meeting is about".

"It's about you wasting my time!", the Centaur snapped.

"No, it's about me giving you the _chance_ of your lifetime", Shao Kahn calmly answered.

Motaro spat on the shiny floor as a sign of his disrespect for Kahn's empire. Both individuals in the room forced themselves to remain unaffected at the sight.

"You are here because I am offering you the chance to be my second-in-command", the seated emperor told him, "It is a spot that Shang Tsung has earned only after centuries of service and you can have it instantly".

Motaro said nothing, so emperor Kahn decided to break the uneasy silence.

"It is an honor to be my second-in-command, chief Motaro", he went on.

"Are you done?", the Centaur asked, annoyed.

"Yes", Shao Kahn stood and walked towards him, "What is your answer?".

Despite his height of seven feet, emperor Kahn had to look up as he stood in front of Motaro and stared into that one's face. Motaro was about a foot and a half taller.

"My answer is I will destroy your kingdom and make you my slave", Motaro grinned as he looked down at Kahn, "Once the human mortals are out of the way, you are next".

Without another word, the Centaur turned and walked away. As he got further, Shang Tsung spoke up for the first time.

"One thing I cannot understand is why you warned the humans of your attack", Shang Tsung addressed the Centaur, "You lost the element of surprise by announcing your planned arrival".

Motaro stopped and turned his face around so he'd see both individuals out of the corner of his eye.

"I would think that even an idiot like you would understand that", the Centaur grinned again, "I warned the humans because I wanted to show you that the kombatants who beat you in the tournaments were defeated by me. This way, you will not be able to say that they did not have adequate time to prepare a defense, like they did when they faced you. I know I'm better than you, and by conquering the Earth realm, I will prove it".

With that, the Centaur was gone. Shang Tsung eyed his superior as they both thought about the consequences of Motaro's actions.

"He will be difficult to control if he takes over the Earth realm", Shang Tsung stared at the direction that Motaro had left, "He will be able to use it as a base against our armies".

Shao Kahn said nothing, only nodded his head.

"Perhaps we should help the Earth humans in this", the emperor finally replied.

"But why, my lord?", his second-in-command was confused.

"Think", Shao Kahn said, "If the humans effectively resist, either the Earth kombatants will kill Motaro or he will kill them. Either way, we win".

Shao Kahn smiled. He had a plan.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Major Jackson Briggs walked down the carpeted hallway followed by Johnny Cage. Both men proceeded towards a closed door. Once reaching it, Jax stopped and knocked on it three times.

"Enter", a voice inside permitted.

Jax opened the door and stepped in. The actor followed him and made sure to close the door behind them.

"Sir", Jax saluted the four-star general, "Thank you for agreeing to see me".

"At ease", the general replied with a smile, "I figured it was the least I could do, considering your commendable record with us, major".

"This is Johnny Cage, the man I told you about", Jax pointed to the other kombatant.

"Yes, I know", the general extended his right hand, "It's a pleasure. I'm a fan, although not as much as my kids".

Both men shook hands before Jax and Johnny briefly locked eyes.

"Go ahead. Tell him everything you told me", the major told him.

Johnny sighed. The tale he had to recount didn't get any easier the more often he told it. Staring into the general's eyes, he then remembered everything that had happened to him ever since the original tournament with Shang Tsung. He made sure to put extra emphasis on the recent occurrences in Outworld when he was met Motaro. The general listened intently, smiling at times in a nervous manner but not interrupting because Johnny didn't seem to stop talking.

"Major", the general addressed Jax when the actor finally stopped, "If this is a joke, you better tell me know".

"It's not a joke, sir", Jax replied.

"Have _you_ seen these... creatures?", the general next asked the major about the Centaurs.

"No sir", Jax had to admit, "But Johnny has and I've worked with him before. He wouldn't exaggerate".

The general next stared at the actor, his pleasant attitude having given way to a much more serious one.

"It sounds more like the plot to your next movie than a threat", he told the kombatant, but he seemed to believe Johnny's tale.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two months after that conversation between the three men, the military had been mobilized with weapons that proved to be more aggressive than the standard M-16 rifle. The public wasn't told about it yet in order to avoid a panic, but Special Forces members were already training for the predicted invasion. By this time, Scott found himself back in Hong Kong, addressing some of the troops that he used to serve with. His right arm had healed because of the time passed since he had returned from Outworld.

"I barely beat one of these Centaurs even though I had help", he remembered how Sonya had saved his life by shooting Qarro, "I was also high on adrenaline at the time. Bullets only scratched him _and_ we were told the Centaurs will be stronger when they pay us their visit. So one-on-one physical confrontations are definitely out of the question".

The soldiers were still trying to absorb all the new information as Scott stopped.

"I _would_ like to stay here and train, if it would please you, sir", he looked at the general who was in the room also, "Only on an unofficial basis, of course, since I _did_ discharge myself from duty, as you well know".

"I'd like you to", the general informed him.

"Good", Scott smiled as he next looked at the colonel who used to be the head of the base when he and Sonya first met, "And there's someone else also. Lieutenant Blade would be very good on our side right about now. Remember lieutenant Blade, colonel?".

"Absolutely not!", the colonel snapped, "No".

"We don't have time for this!", the ninja snapped back, "Her experiences with these freaks as well as with the military make her invaluable to our side".

"I agree", the general interjected, "She's in".

"Thank you", Scott told him, feeling relieved.

"Did you hear the Centaur threatening us, by the way?", the general next asked.

"No sir", the ninja replied, "I was out cold at the time".

"Well, we shouldn't be so helpless if and when they do come", the general then told him.

"When they come, not if", Scott corrected.

"Right", the general went on, "We have an advantage, even if their anatomy is as strong as you say. We have Arol on our side".

The other men in the room knew what their superior meant, but Scott still didn't.

"Arol? Who's Arol?", he asked.

"Not who, what", the general informed as a private handed him a large-caliber weapon, "Arol. The 45 millimeter portable Assault Rocket Launcher. We've been rushing to build it ever since the first day we were warned".

The weapon seemed to be no bigger than an M-16 rifle, but it's barrel was clearly much thicker as the general held it.

"It can carry two shells at a time", the general proudly told the visitor, "Needless to say, if these horsemen _do_ invade, we're dying to find out just how tough they really are"...

When all was said and done, Scott left the room with a smile.

He found the nearest phone in the base and picked up the receiver, intending to send a long-distance phone call. He dialed the number and began counting the number of rings. The person on the other end picked up after the third ring.

"Hello?", Sonya spoke into her own receiver over from Washington DC.

"Guess who?", Scott answered, "I've been welcomed here with open arms from almost everybody at least. They're making some real progress".

"Great", she was glad he was able to put his mind at ease, "So when are you coming back home?".

"Actually, that's another thing", the ninja told her, "I'm not coming back any time soon. They're interested in training with me since I've seen these horses before, and it doesn't only stop there. They're interested in you too".

There was silence on the other end for a few seconds.

"Come again?", Sonya wanted to clarify what she had heard.

"They want you here. They need your help", Scott repeated, "How else can I put it?".

"No way".

"Yes way!", the ninja pressed.

"So what am I supposed to do?", she pointed out, "Just drop everything, leave everybody behind and fly over there?".

"Sonya, this is more important than that, you know that", Scott insisted, "Besides, you don't have to leave everybody behind. Grab Liu and Kitana and bring them with you. Johnny's already here with me and so is Jax. Hell, we can make it a reunion just for us".

Scott chuckled at the thought, although the silence from the lady kombatant's side didn't indicate to him how she perceived the news. He waited for several seconds, hating the fact that he only heard himself breath.

"I'll ask Liu and Kitana then", she finally told him.

"Great! Let me know how it goes", Scott mentioned, thinking she needed to find the two kombatants first, "I'll be here. Let me give you the number where you can reach me".

"Don't need to. They're both right here", Sonya replied as she was looking at Liu and Princess Kitana since they were in her living room.

She lowered the phone and smiled at the White Lotus monk.

"How would the two of you like to fly to Hong Kong with me?", she posed, "You'll meet the best the army has to offer once there. They need our help".

Liu didn't waste any time in answering.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya, Liu and Kitana walked into the weight room in the Hong Kong army base with the luggage they had brought with them from the airplane. They were definitely glad they didn't carry more than four gymbags for all three of them. Among the numerous weightlifting equipment, they saw Scott casually seated on a weightbench as he talked to Jax while that one was leaning against a mirror. Both men stopped and looked at the three newcomers as soon as the door was opened from outside.

"Hey, you made it", Scott spoke first, smiling, "It's about time. I was worried you weren't able to find your way back here because you got lost".

"Still as funny as ever", Sonya smiled back as she lowered her bag towards the floor and saw the ninja coming towards them.

"Major", she next offered her right hand to Jax as that one approached them also.

"Lieutenant", he gripped her hand with his own.

"Come on, you have got to see the new toy they have out", Scott motioned to her next, "It's a 45 millimeter cannon. Perfect toy for when the horsemen arrive".

"Liu, Kitana. Nice to see you", Jax was busy reacquainting with them as Scott withdrew an Arol he had tucked away in the weightroom itself.

"So, how's the preparation coming along?", was Sonya's first question to the ninja.

"Actually, it's coming along pretty good", Scott replied, still finding new ways to dissect the Arol, "The guys are definitely ready. The only problem is still that we have no idea when, or where, or how the Centaurs are coming. Once they are here, our only plan is to take them on in a door-to-door street warfare until one side eliminates the other. I don't have to tell you that ain't much of a plan".

"Yeah", Sonya agreed.

"And I still don't like the idea of not telling the general public about the invasion", the ninja continued, "I mean, these Arols are already available to half the regular and reserve military and they're being rushed to be sent to the other half, but the public as a whole still has no idea what's going on".

"It _does_ make sense", the kombatant told him, "We want to avoid a panic, no? Obviously, it'll be better if everyone gets to brace themselves for it, but at what cost? We don't even know when the invasion is set for. It could be ten years from now for all we know".

"Yeah, or maybe tomorrow", Scott added before changing the subject, "Come on, walk around the base with me. I bet you missed this place since you were gone. I know I have".

"Not really", she bluntly said.

"No?".

"No", Sonya was less generous than him when it came to judging the place, "Miss what? The colonel? The way I got kicked out? That colonel is still around, isn't he? He still belongs here but I don't".

"Don't let him get to you, sweetheart", Scott lowered his voice into a whisper and placed his right palm on her cheek, "What he says doesn't matter. He doesn't bother me that much, and do you know why?".

Sonya shook her head.

"Because everything he says goes in through one ear and out the other", Scott kept whispering, "Remember that. In one ear, out the other".

"I'll keep it in mind", she promised as she picked up the gym bag again, ready to head outside.

"I _would_ be interested in seeing the training ground for your men", Liu was busy talking to Jax as Sonya and Scott reached him.

"Let's go, then", the major advised, "I'll show you three to your rooms so you can settle in first. Come on by to my barracks and let me know when you're ready to give a hand with the training".

"Thank you", Kitana replied, "Your hospitality is generous".

"No, I should be thanking _you_", Jax replied, "Believe me, any news we find out about these Centaurs is new for us. We're desperate for the help".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott and Sonya were dressed in their traditional black commando outfits as they both dropped towards the ground on their stomach. Other soldiers nearby did the same as each person checked his/her Arol to make sure it was loaded with two shells. A soldier nearby stood first and fired once at a wooden target which was made to look like a Centaur. The target blew apart as the rest of the soldiers stealthily snuck by. Scott stood second and fired his first shot into another wooden Centaur as the rest of the soldiers took advantage of his supposed diversion to advance further. With the other soldiers crawling on their stomach in order to avoid detection by the supposed enemy, Sonya sprang to her feet and fired her first shell into a wooden Centaur forty yards away. The target blew apart as she next twisted behind her and smoothly fired a second shot into another target which was about fifty yards behind her, shattering that one to pieces also.

"Yesss!", she congratulated herself as she saw the result, confident that she was getting used to the new weapons.

Static was heard over a loudspeaker before the colonel's voice reverberated through the training ground.

"You were only supposed to fire _one_ shot, Blade!", the colonel reprimanded.

"Oh, give me a break", Sonya spoke to herself as Scott was the only trainee to stand up, "You're gonna say that when the attack comes also? Things are always unpredictable when push comes to shove".

She looked over to where Scott stood twenty yards away to find out what his reaction was.

"Nice shooting", the ninja smiled and whispered as he raised his thumb, although he knew she would have to read his lips from such distance.

"Be more careful about following orders, Blade", the colonel next announced over the loudspeaker, "It's understandable that you have a problem with orders and such, but this is serious. So try to think of the whole squad instead of yourself for a change. Next practice is in section four".

The soldiers around them stood and those who were interested then proceeded to section four. Scott reached her as she was busy loading two new shells into her assault cannon.

"You did good", he let her know.

"Pretentious asshole!", Sonya angrily shoved the second shell into the weapon.

"What?", Scott questioned, thinking she referred to him.

"Not you", she replied, indicating she meant the colonel.

"Don't.. let.. him.. get to you", the ninja slowly said in order for his words to be realized.

He went inside the empty barracks room and she followed, closing the door behind them.

"Yeah, sure. That's a lot easier said than done, isn't it?", she answered.

"In one ear...", he made the first half of the statement, waiting for her to finish it.

"Out the other", she completed the statement.

"Listen", he advised, "Put the cannon away for now. It's been a long day. Relax, get something to eat. You'll feel better".

"Yeah, you're probably right", she casually tossed the Arol on the nearest bunk bed even though the bed wasn't hers.

"I know I'm right", he said.

Scott came closer to kiss her on the lips just as another private walked into the barracks room also, prompting the ninja to pull away and to look like they were just talking.

"Hi", he smiled at the soldier as that one returned his greetings.

The young man next sat on a bunk bed several steps away from them, making them realize they would have to go their own way exactly as they were now.

"Remember what I said", Scott locked eyes with her, nonverbally telling her that he wished the other soldier was somewhere else.

"I will", she smiled back, understanding his thoughts.

He walked out of the main door to head for section four and she picked up her Arol before proceeding towards the back exit to get lunch.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While that took place, Princess Kitana headed into the room where she had been told Liu could be found. She twisted the doorknob to the room and pushed the door open. The information was right since she saw the monk seated on his knees with his back straight as he meditated with his eyes closed. The only source of light in the space was the natural sunlight which came in from the small window near him. Despite her best efforts to be quiet, he opened his eyes as he sensed movement.

"Am I intruding?", Kitana asked.

"Not at all", Liu smiled, "Come in".

She took several steps inside after closing the door behind her. She sat on the floor next to the monk, eyeing him as that one closed his eyes again.

"Is there something you wish to ask me?", the monk broke the silence.

"Yes", she admitted, "What plans do we have when the invasion arises?".

"I do not know when it will arise", the monk opened his eyes again, "Nor where. It seems to me as if planning for something unknown would be a waste of time".

"In other words, we don't have anything", Kitana added.

"Not so", Liu corrected, "We can take the time to improve ourselves to as much an extent as possible. So we're are at our best when the invasion does occur".

"Uhuh", Kitana did not like what she was hearing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott walked into the weight room after his last training session in section four. Contrary to his expectations, the room wasn't empty. Johnny was seated on the weightbench closest to the door as the ninja walked in. The kombatant was simply staring at the equipment as the lights in the room were turned off, casting a dark shadow over everything.

"Johnny?", Scott asked, turning on the lights with a switch, "What're you doing here? I thought I'd just come in and lift some weights before I go to sleep".

"I was just thinking", the actor told him as the lights illuminated the large room, "This place looks so dark and gloomy without the lights on".

"Yes, I guess it does", the ninja agreed, still without understanding the kombatant's reason for being there.

"Have you ever noticed how scary a dark room looks?", Johnny asked him.

"A few times", Scott replied, "Did _this_ place look like it to you?".

"Yeah", the actor let him know, "I came here for a workout too, about two hours ago. I haven't been able to move past the front door since".

"You're kidding", the ninja told him.

Johnny shook his head, still staring deeper into the weight room.

"You didn't see how menacing Motaro appeared", the kombatant turned to the ninja, "He was bigger than Qarro. Probably as big as Goro, except he had two arms instead of four".

"I know it's annoying", Scott realized, "We can work like crazy to increase our strength by a mere 10 only to then find out that our opponent is three times stronger than we'll ever be".

There was silence as both men looked at each other. They both sighed.

"Scary, huh?", Scott asked.

"Yeah", Johnny replied again.

"You gotta face your fears, Johnny", the ninja frankly told him.

"You know, _everybody_ says that", the kombatant seemed annoyed, "It's so easy to say 'face your fears', isn't it? Since the person saying it isn't the one feeling the fear. Those are just words, nothing more".

"That's not true", the ninja let him know, "I _do_ know what I'm talking about. I've done it too and I know it sucks. But they're not just words".

"No, I guess not".

"Well, here's what _I_ do when things appear to get scary for me", Scott walked towards a stereo that was positioned on a nearby table.

Withdrawing a heavy metal music tape from his pocket, the ninja installed it into the stereo. He then played the music and turned the volume up high. The heavy metal screams and music quickly flooded the once quiet weight room.

"See? Things don't seem so scary _now_, do they?", the ninja smiled at the kombatant, raising his voice so as to be heard over the music.

"No", Johnny slowly smiled also, "No, they don't".

"Come on", Scott offered the actor his hand, "I'll work out with you".

Johnny gripped the hand and the ninja pulled him up to his feet. As both fighters proceeded towards the inside of the weightroom, looking forward to a grueling workout that the fast music drove towards, a spark appeared in front of them. The spark soon expanded as Scott kept his eyes on it and slowly walked back to the stereo. Shutting the music off, the silence abruptly returned as the glitter grew into the size of an average adult man. Rayden soon stood in that area as his facial expression indicated to the humans that he did not bring good news.

"I should've figured you'd come in here to bail us out", the actor spoke first, trying to smile.

"I wish it was that simple", the thunder god replied in a somber tone, "I know the Centaurs are planning to invade your realm and I cannot stop them".

"Please, someone like you should be able to trash those losers with one hand tied behind your back", the ninja said.

"You must realize, I am only one of many gods", Rayden regretfully explained, "My position is, and has been for millennia, the protector of this realm. But the deity who overlooks the affairs of the Centaurs' realm would not be willing to sit idly by as I decimated his realm's inhabitants".

"I'm not following you here", Johnny told him, disliking the path the conversation followed.

"If I intervened, the deity who protects the Centaurs' realm would too", Rayden continued, "He has made that fact clear to me. A battle between me and him could destroy the Earth realm in the process".

"You're telling me you can't take this guy?", Scott asked.

"It is not a matter of who wins and who loses", the deity answered, "But a matter of the price paid for the victory. The destruction of the Earth realm would mean the death of every person, animal and plant living on it. Bluntly, the end of the world. The deity I mention is as powerful as me. He is the one who supplies Motaro the power over his dreaded red lighting, as Johnny already has witnessed".

"Great", the kombatant raised his hands, "So much for having an edge in this fight".

"There _is_ one piece of information you lack which may prove useful", Rayden told them, "Of what limited knowledge I have, the realm of the Centaurs is undergoing a massive shift, indicating the invasion force will be extremely large. All Centaurs are telepathically connected. Thus, there happens to be a way in which the entire invasion force can be repelled without any of Motaro's millions of students having to be fought".

"Which is?", Scott asked him as both fighters' eyes widened a bit.

"Motaro is almost looked upon as a god among his students", the deity clarified, "The way to destroy their faith in their mission to conquer the Earth realm and prove humanity's strength over the Centaurs would be if a human killed Motaro in singles combat".

Both humans quietly stared at the god for a few moments, absorbing the information. Scott nervously smiled as he decided to ask a question for which he already knew the answer.

"By singles combat, you wouldn't happen to mean that one of us can take an Arol and just pop him in the chest, would you?", the ninja posed.

"No", the deity regretfully shook his head, "I mean a battle without any weapons and without any outside help".

"As in mortal kombat", Johnny sighed, disappointed since the new information didn't seem to help them much, "A fair streetfight where the winner has to kill the loser with his bare hands".

"Yes", was Rayden's only response.

"Well, I guess that makes sense", Scott said, "But who the _hell_ is gonna beat Motaro in a fair fight? I mean, Goro or Durak might stand a chance, but _us_?".

"I am sorry, that is all I know", Rayden seemed frustrated with himself.

"Well, thanks anyway", the kombatant told him, "I don't suppose, though, that you know when the invasion is set for".

The deity only shook his head.

"OK, thanks", Scott sighed, "I'll go tell the others. But until we get _really_ desperate, we're gonna keep trying to hit these sons of bitches until one side gets wiped out. Nobody's gonna be asked to go on a suicide mission like that".

The ninja turned and headed out of the weight room in order to pass the information to the other kombatants outside. He heard Rayden turning into a mass of electricity from behind him before that one vanished.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The routine at the Army base in Hong Kong went on for three more weeks before it was decided that there were too many Special Forces members in the eastern half of the globe alone. Some of the troops were ordered back home to the continental United States in order to protect the mainland once the invasion took place. Fortunately for Sonya, Johnny and Scott, one of the areas that a fraction of the troops were headed for was the nation's capital. All three decided to return home, although Jax had a choice to go with them or stay in his familiar ground in Hong Kong, and he chose the latter. Liu and Kitana ultimately decided to remain with him, since it left the White Lotus monk closer to his temple. The day of departure for half the team was spent at the airport as embraces were shared back and forth. Each person was also made sure to have the address and phone number of the ones who were separating from his/her half of the team. The three team members who were flying back to Washington DC had made reservations on a commercial airliner. That was while the colonel and about thirty troops had already flown back in a military airplane almost a day before.

Although clearly missing Liu and the other two kombatants, Sonya had to admit it felt nice to be back in her home. She was dressed in casual blue jeans and a tucked T-shirt as she grabbed her dark yellow jacket. She told herself that the dry cleaners had done a remarkable job in getting all of Scott's blood stains off it after they had returned from Outworld. There were virtually no traces of red on the jacket as she put it one and also tied a pair of white sneakers, one on each foot. After zipping the jacket about halfway up, she was on her way outside. Realizing that the weather outside was nice enough, she had removed the clear nylon cover from the window through which she had jumped while chasing the Black Dragons sniper. The window remained without a glass front since a replacement had not been searched yet after the shattered glass had been removed. The window still remained unfixed, although she had kept telling herself she would get around to that task. She was about to head out the door to meet Scott when someone rang on the doorbell.

Scott, at the same time, was about two miles away. He patiently waited at the end of a short line while he debated in his mind as to what kind of sandwiches he should order once he was talking to the counterman. Johnny stood nearby, with his sunglasses always on, as the actor had already made up his own mind. Not too many people had recognized the actor presently, which was just fine with him, because he was only looking forward to a day of relaxation after returning from the busy Army base. The invasion also seemed to be far from Scott's mind as the ninja had actually gotten used to the idea of having an omen held over his head. He had told himself that it was going to happen no matter how worried everyone became, so there was no point in being disturbed by it. He had realized that Sonya was right, it might not have taken place until ten years later, and he wasn't going to stress himself out until it did. They were as ready now as they would ever be.

The two men were engaged in a pleasant, mindless conversation when everyone suddenly heard gunshots being fired from outside. Most people in the store naturally wondered what had just happened. Since both men were at the end of the line, they had no trouble going to the front of the store and looking out the window. Two masked robbers armed with a handgun each quickly bolted out of the bank across the street and fled on foot.

A security guard from inside the bank opened the door with his own weapon at the ready as the bandits were about twenty yards away. The two robbers turned and all three men opened fire. The guard screamed as he was shot and thrown backwards.

"Goddamnit, not now!", Scott told himself as he saw the robbers running towards the left.

He had been looking forward to his first chance to be alone with Sonya in the last several weeks. It seemed like these bank robbers were doing their best to foil his plans for the day. The ninja could've run after them by going to the left, or he could've forgotten about them and just headed to the right, where their car was parked. He didn't take long to think about it as he watched the robbers get further with each second. Growling slightly and feeling annoyed, he bolted out of the store and ran towards the left. Johnny followed him outside, although the actor didn't copy his method of simply chasing after the targets. The kombatant had a more elaborate scheme in mind as someone in the store picked up a phone and called the police as well as for an ambulance.

Scott was thirty yards away from his preys and closing in fast as those two seemed headed for an already planned destination. Neither one of the two robbers had turned around yet to see if they were being followed. As they neared a car that was parked outside of an alleyway, one of them finally twisted around. He spotted the plainclothed ninja closing in towards them like a shark approaching a meal. With Scott getting to within ten steps away, the first man raised his weapon with his left hand. That was all he got to do because the ninja next saw Johnny bursting out of the alleyway and kicking that one's left hand.

The first man screamed as the firearm flew out of his hand. The kombatant next delivered a quick leg sweep and the second robber slammed down on the ground because of it. As both adversaries recovered, Scott finally reached them and tackled the second robber while Johnny concentrated on the first. The actor delivered an uppercut which snapped his opponent's head back before punching that one in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. The kombatant next kicked him in the side of the right knee and both his legs buckled as he dropped hard on his knees. Before the robber could react, he saw Johnny's foot coming right at his face. The bottom of the actor's foot slammed into his eyes and knocked him down on his back, dazed and defeated for sure.

Scott picked up his adversary as that one had dropped his weapon after being tackled. The man swung, his right fist colliding into the ninja's jaw. Scott's face barely moved as his eyes didn't even blink under the impact. The man's eyes widened before he decided to strike again. While swinging a second fist, Scott twisted to his left and sent his right foot into that one's stomach. The robber bent down, gasping for air, as the ninja next gripped the hair at the back of his head. Pulling that one up to his full height, the ninja tossed him towards the nearest tree, which was about a dozen steps away. The man involuntarily rushed towards the tree because of the push and slammed into it face-first. He then fell down on his back, unable to remain standing.

Scott walked over to his victim and pulled that one up to his feet just as Johnny did the same with his own opponent. With both robbers on their feet and defeated, the partners were able relax. The ninja pulled the mask off his adversary when he saw that one reaching into his pocket with his right hand and withdrawing a small pistol. Scott's eyes widened as he realized he had been premature by assuming that the victory was his. His opponent simply ignored him for no apparent reason and leveled the weapon past him, aiming for Johnny.

"GUN!", Scott yelled as he grabbed the man's extended right wrist.

The ninja was unable to pull the robber's wrist upwards before the weapon fired. Standing next to his vanquished adversary, Johnny turned to see the handgun aimed at him and tried to drop to the ground to get out of the way. He wasn't fast enough and the trigger was pulled while the actor was still standing. Fortunately, the robber proved to have a bad aim and the bullet from his weapon ended up shooting the other robber in the upper back. That one screamed and fell forward as Scott sent his elbow into his resilient opponent's face, finally knocking that one unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Both fighters were leaning against the side of a police car when one bank robber was carried off in a body bag and the other was escorted to the hospital with multiple bone fractures. Neither one spoke as they stared at the brightly colored lights from the many police cars and the ambulance. Johnny took his sunglasses off and stared at the ninja, wanting to break the silence.

"You OK?", the kombatant asked him.

"I'm fine", Scott tried to smile, "I should be asking _you_ that".

"I'm fine too", the actor told him, "Just a little shaken up".

"Well, don't worry too much about it", the ninja replied, "I only look calm on the outside. I'm still shaking like a leaf inside, believe me".

"Look, we already answered all these guys' questions", Johnny motioned towards the police officers at the scene, "There's probably gonna be tons more to answer later on in the future, so why don't we get out of here while they said we could?",

The police officers were busy placing tape around the area so no one would inadvertently walk into it and damage any evidence. All three handguns were also placed in clear evidence bags and carried into a patrol car.

"That's probably a good idea", Scott mentioned.

"Yeah, I got a movie to finish shooting anyway", the kombatant told him.

Both fighters briefly embraced before they separated. Johnny walked back to his car while Scott decided to go on foot. The spot where he was supposed to meet Sonya wasn't too far off and he could use the time alone to reflect on what had just happened.

"Call me if you need to talk more", the ninja spoke up as they headed their separate way.

"I will", the actor promised.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Yes?", Sonya saw a man in his thirties in an expensive Italian suit when she opened the door.

"Are you miss Blade? Miss Sonya Blade?", the man asked.

"That's me", she replied, "And you are?".

"You don't know me, but I've heard about you", the man said, "I have some important business to discuss with you. Can I come in?".

"Sure", she stepped aside and let the man enter the living room, "But what is this about?".

She closed the door behind her as she wondered if this new event would take a long time. She decided to ask when the man seemed to read her mind.

"Were you on your way out?", he questioned.

"Yes", she told him, "Is this important? And who are you?".

"I belong to a small group which has something very important in common with you, miss Blade", the man still didn't give his name, "See, we know about the fact that the Centaurs are coming also".

The mention surprised her a bit, though not a lot.

"So, what are you? The military, the police?", she questioned.

"None of the above", the man went on, standing about three steps away, "See, we're interested in recruiting you to come and work with us, since you seem to know a lot about these creatures and we could definitely use someone of your experience".

"First of all, if anything, my friends know more about them than me", she replied, "Especially since one of them heard the threat of the invasion and the other one fought with a Centaur".

"Yes, but you are the one who has the rank in the military", the man answered, "Or at least did. But our guess is that the military will be willing to give your old rank back when they realize they need your help more, thus putting you in a position of power again".

"Wait a sec!", Sonya held her palms in front of her chest, "How do you know so much about me? And you _still_ didn't give me your name. What's this business that you guys have with these Centaurs if you're not with the military or the police?".

"We want your help so you will point the military in the wrong direction, miss Blade", the man answered, "And we can make you a rich woman if you do".

"Point the military in the wrong direction?", she repeated, not quiet understanding.

"I do not know how or why the military was tipped off about the invasion", the man went on, "But there's a big incentive for us, and thus for you if you cooperate with us, if the military fails when the Centaurs arrive. The first and foremost objective would if to find an imaginary fault with these Arols so the military will decide not to use them. They can prove to be deadly in a streetfight against the Centaurs".

There was a brief silence as Sonya absorbed all the information. Her facial expression suddenly turned to disgust as she realized what the man was talking about.

"You son of a bitch", she whispered, "You're working for the Centaurs. You're selling out the entire planet to the invasion force".

Her tone of voice and words were not the kind that the man hoped he would hear.

"Come on, Blade", he continued, "Did you really think the Centaurs could take over without them knowing about our technology first hand? practically everything now is computerized here, but Centaurs don't even know what artificial electricity is. We show them the ropes when they get here and we get taken care of in exchange. It's a very nice deal, might I add. We are giving you the chance of a lifetime here. The invasion _is_ set, and the Centaurs _will_ win sooner or later. You don't want to be on the losing side, do you?".

There was another silence as they locked eyes.

"This is your last chance", the man warned.

"I agree", Sonya told him, "Your last chance to give up before I break you in half".

The man gave a slight smile at her response.

"I wish I didn't have to do this", he told her as he reached into his suit.

The next sight Sonya saw was him withdrawing a pistol with a silencer attached to it. As the man leveled the weapon in front of his face, she rushed forward and sent forth a fast front kick aimed at his hand. The weapon violently flew up and backwards before it smashed through the screen of the television set. Sparks followed in the television screen as the handgun was lost amidst the numerous dark wires.

Sonya twisted to the right and planted her left foot into his stomach. The man moaned in pain and bent down before she next slammed her right elbow into the back of his lowered head, knocking him down on his hands and knees. She then gripped the back of his collar and yanked him up to his feet.

"Get up, you son of a bitch", she snapped, "I'm dying to find out what my former colleagues at the Special Forces would think when they interview you. They're here too, you know".

The thought of being turned over to the military was obviously not an option for the man, so he ignored the pain in his stomach and head. He turned to face her and blindly swung into the air. From a stroke of good luck, his right fist hit her in the jaw and Sonya was thrown backwards before she slammed into the wall. Seeing the man approach her again, she swung back, her fist colliding into his jaw and loosening a pair of teeth. Staggering backwards, the man was quick to notice a wooden baseball bat that had been lying idle between the couch and the television set. Seeing her closing in against him, he gripped the handle, picked it up and pushed the heavier end of the bat hard into her stomach.

Sonya gasped as she bent down, desperately trying to catch her breath but being unable to. The man next lifted the bat high over his head before sending it crashing down on her upper back, knocking her down on her hands and knees. He then kicked her in the stomach, sending her twisting on the ground so she was lying on her back as she moaned. Hissing and in pain, she pulled herself up to her feet only to see him swing the baseball bat in a horizontal position. The bat slammed into her face just next to the left eye, breaking the skin in that area and knocking her back down. Bleeding from behind the left eye, she was still trying to get back up. She looked up and saw him swinging the bat downwards towards her face. The bat crashed into her forehead and she only saw black afterwards because she was unconscious.

The man reasoned that he could've bludgeoned her to death while she was knocked out, but he didn't want her blood on his expensive clothes. Thus, he threw the bat on the floor and pulled a hand grenade from inside his suit. He was glad he always traveled armed in such a way because he just found a use for his extra weaponry. He pulled the pin of the grenade and rested the bomb next to her stomach on the floor. He then walked out of her home, planning to be outside by his car when the place exploded.

After he left and closed the door behind him, Sonya's eyes opened as she woke up with a huge headache. She was dizzy as she slowly pulled her upper body up into a seated position. Resting her right palm on her forehead, she was about to try to stand up when she noticed the grenade next to her. Her eyes widened and she gave a light scream before she instinctively grabbed the grenade while still in a seated position and threw it towards the window. The grenade easily flew past the window since there was no glass stopping it and landed about three yards outside the wall of her home. An explosion followed which sent pieces of concrete from the side of wall facing the grenade's position into the living room. One piece of concrete hit her in the left shoulder, but she ignored it as anger propelled her to stand and to rush into her bedroom. Once there, she pulled her Glock out from under her pillow and rushed outside, hoping the man had stayed behind to watch the fireworks he had created.

She opened the door and saw the man in the Italian suit hurriedly starting the ignition of his car since having the grenade tossed out of the window had told him that something was wrong. He stepped on the accelerator and his vehicle sped off, leaving burned rubber behind. Sonya had her handgun aimed at the back windshield of the car as she watched him leave, but she realized that it wouldn't have done her much good to open fire then. Not discouraged, she rushed back inside, grabbed the keys to the car she was planning to use originally when heading out and rushed towards her vehicle.

She opened the driver's side door, threw the handgun on the front passenger seat and positioned herself behind the wheel. She closed the driver's side door with her left hand while her right started the ignition. Not even stopping to examine the amount of blood on the left side of her face, she sped off after him.

After speeding down the street for about half a dozen blocks, she finally caught sight of the man's vehicle going almost as fast. That one drove past a red light and disorganized traffic. As she reached the intersection just a few seconds afterwards, she had to slam on the brakes because she saw a large truck across and blocking her side of the street. The hood of her car skidded and stopped only inches away from the side of the eighteen-wheeler. She could still see the man racing away as she was forced to stop.

"MOVE THE DAMN TRUCK!", she yelled out, although she doubted anyone could hear her since both windows in her car were up.

Not unexpectedly, she got no response. Her adrenaline still propelling her forward, she grabbed the Glock with her right hand and quickly got out of the car, not caring that there were two other vehicles behind her. She began chasing after the man on foot, her right arm bent at the elbow so the handgun was aimed at the sky. Rushing for one block in a busy business area, she ran through a red light without even seeing it as a car was heading towards her from the right. Fortunately, the careful driver slammed on his brakes and the vehicle skidded to a stop instead of driving forward at full speed and hitting her. The car stopped in front of her, the hood blocking her way. Without even thinking, Sonya stepped on top of the car hood from its left side, dashed across it and came back down on the ground on its right side.

Just as she did that, the pursued man drove through a second red light and was hit by another car at the intersection. His vehicle was stopped cold as his face crashed into the windshield. He grabbed the reserve handgun that he kept in the glove compartment and shakily got out of the car with his forehead bleeding profusely. The man began running also as he saw smoke coming out of the hood of his vehicle. Among the noise and confusion, he bolted as far away from her as possible.

He turned around and saw her closing in from less than a block away. He leveled the weapon he had with one hand. Sonya, from her side, heard what sounded like five firecrackers but she knew in fact that they were bullets. Other pedestrians screamed and ducked, but she stopped and aimed the Glock with both hands in front of her face. Although she wanted to fire, she knew she was panting and thus the odds that she might've hit an innocent bystander was too great from this distance. She thus didn't. The man, in his turn, twisted back around and began rushing away again, but he hadn't looked where he was headed because he ran right into a telephone pole. Recoiling, he fell on his back and lost the grip on his weapon.

The man then shakily stood back up and picked up his handgun again. With Sonya only half a block away now and gaining on him, he decided to run into the nearest place he could. He thus ran towards the first door he spotted. It was fortunately open and he went inside. He ran deeper into the building before he arrived at an auditorium full of spectators as they were watching a high school adaptation play of 'Romeo and Juliet' on the stage. Some of the spectators noticed the man rushing from one side of the dark movie hall to the other, but most didn't pay much attention to him. While he was on the opposite side of the auditorium, Sonya finally reached the spot from where he had entered the place. From across the auditorium, the man blindly fired one shot towards her general direction.

This time, her pent-up aggression took over and she raised the Glock at arm's length in front of her shoulders. Screams followed from both the spectators and the actors on the stage as she passionately fired all twenty rounds towards her opponent. As the smell of lead instantly invaded her nostrils, she saw that he had not been hit since he was still running out of the auditorium from the opposite end. Sonya lowered the weapon and was about to keep chasing him when a uniformed security guard jumped her from behind. As she was surprised from the sudden attack, two more men joined the first and all three wrestled her to the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?", she screamed out, being overwhelmed and seeing her adversary vanish, "GET OFF, YOU MORONS!".

The panicked audience was still screaming and trying to leave the theater when four police cars arrived within less than two minutes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The councilman's son was an actor on the stage!", the head detective snapped at her as Sonya was seated on a chair in the police interrogation room, "And both his parents were in the audience and they were all scared by your actions".

"Ooooooouuuuuuuhhhhhh", she replied, "How am I _ever_ going to live with myself? I scared the councilman's son! Oh, what a heartbreak!".

The sarcasm in her voice wasn't appreciated by any of her three interrogators as she became serious.

"Haven't you been listening to anything that I've said for the last hour?!", she snapped, "The guy sold us out. He already tried to kill me, _that's_ why he was running away".

"That's ridiculous and you know it, you stupid bitch", another detective answered, "We've gone over your record. Dishonorable discharge for being too aggressive and disobeying orders. Involved in an assault which led to a fine young man's injury a short while back in a shopping mall parking lot. Just because they let you have your way in the military doesn't mean you can just fire your gun off at random whenever you feel like it".

Sonya sighed, saying nothing.

"Now", the same detective continued, "The councilman wants us to pursue this matter, and I assure you, we will".

"And if the councilman told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that too?", she replied.

"You could be charged with reckless endangerment _and_ unlawful abandonment of a vehicle in the middle of traffic", the interrogator went on, ignoring her remark, "As soon as we talk to the district attorney, you'll be booked".

"Look, don't I get to make a phone call here?", she asked, unimpressed.

"No!", two out of three detectives answered at once.

Sonya sighed again, lightly touching the bruise behind her left eye with her left middle and index fingers. The blood was almost dried and thus kept the cut from bleeding any further. Time was the only reason the wound wasn't bleeding any more because neither one of the three detectives had even asked how she got hurt, much less trying to treat the laceration.

"Don't you find it strange that the guy I was shooting at didn't stick around after I got arrested?", she asked them, "That was because he _wasn't_ innocent".

"Quit trying to put your blame on others", the third detective pressed, "We know what we have on you. That's not going to change".

"You know, it's really amazing how the police force can hire three guys whose combined IQ is less than my age", she made eye contact with all three men when she responded, "You scared the councilman's brat, so we're gonna lock you up. Who cares if the world is going to hell? You interrupted the brat's Shakespeare play".

"You're in real trouble here, lady", one of the detectives answered, still not amused by her impersonation of them, "So I suggest you lose the attitude".

"Actually, guys, I was about to tell _you_ that", Sonya smiled, "See, I was supposed to meet my boyfriend almost thirty minutes ago and he's gonna be _really_ angry when he finds out that you're the ones keeping me from him".

"I don't believe this", the head detective looked at the other two, "Do you guys believe this shit?".

Just then, Scott opened the door to the interrogation room from outside. He was followed closely by detective Olsen, who was there mainly to make sure the ninja didn't go too far.

"There you are!", Scott pointed at the head detective, "Wadda you think you're doing?".

"What the fuck?", the chief interrogator was surprised, "Who're you? You have no right in interfere in this...".

"Interfere?", the ninja cut him off, "You hold her for over an hour without giving her a phone call that every lowlife in the street has the right to do, and I'm not supposed to interfere?".

"Listen, hotshot, the legislation says we hold her overnight", the head detective went on, "Leave if you don't want to...".

Scott interrupted him by gripping his neck with a tense right hand and slamming his back against the wall. The other two detectives moved towards the ninja to intervene, but Olsen was quick to motion them not to.

"Well, my choking grip on your neck here says she leaves now", the ninja told the chief detective as that one gasped, "Who are you gonna listen to?".

"Scott, let him go", detective Olsen spoke up.

The ninja loosened the grip on the man's neck at the request.

"You're in big trouble, asshole", the chief detective said as he rubbed his throat, "That's assaulting an officer".

"I don't think so, guys", Olsen addressed all the detectives, pointing at Sonya, "You're gonna release her right now".

"What?", another detective blurted out.

"That's right", Olsen continued, "See, I forgot the Johnson incident for you guys, so you're gonna do this for me now".

"Come on!", the chief interrogator protested, "What am I supposed to tell the councilman?".

"That's up to you, detective", Olsen warned, "But I imagine that's the better of the two choices, considering your other option is to explain to the prosecutor about what happened in the Johnson case".

All three detectives quieted down.

"Come on, miss Blade, you're outta here", Olsen pointed behind him.

Sonya smiled as she stood because things had turned out even better than she expected.

"Would it have killed you to even get somebody to look at that?", Scott next pointed at the cut on the left side of her face as he addressed the three detectives on the way out.

"How is it?", the ninja asked her about the wound after Olsen was outside the room with the two of them.

"Nothing big", she reassured, "It's already dried up. Let's just go home".

Detective Olsen escorted the two out, partly wanting to make sure Scott didn't get into any more arguments between there and the door.

"Thanks, detective", Sonya was grateful, "I owe you one".

"Forget about it", Olsen smiled, "Consider it payback for solving the case with the missing arms".

"Same goes for me", Scott added, "You gotta tell me what the Johnson thing was. I didn't even know you had that on your side when I went in there".

"Something that happened a long while ago", the detective did not want to go any further in his explanation as he handed Sonya's empty Glock back to her, "I just like to have it around so I can hold it over their heads".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was about to set as evening rolled in. Sonya kept trying not to show any pain as Scott carefully applied rubbing alcohol over the wound in order to disinfect the cut and also to clean off the dried blood. She had changed her mind and wanted to go to the Army base stationed in the nation's capital because she was eager to tell whoever was around about the man's visit to her home. They were still waiting in the office of a major in order to give her a chance to repeat the tale that she had told Scott.

While that took place, Johnny was busy rehearsing the line for the next-to-last scene from the movie. All the action scenes had already been filmed and the only things remaining were small dialogues that had to be included also. He tried to keep focused on the task at hand because he didn't want to think too much about the occurrence with the bank robbers or the predicted Centaur invasion.

Back in Hong Kong, Liu and Kitana were intently watching as Jax showed them, in as a simplistic a manner as possible, the way in which an Arol worked. Neither the White Lotus monk nor the Outworld Princess had any experience dealing with firearms, so major Briggs thought it would be wise to familiarize them with it.

All six fighters' plans were cut short when the evening sky suddenly turned bright, navy blue. There was also an drastic and unexpected drop in the temperature as hundreds of millions of small portals appeared all over the globe. Some appeared in the middle of streets or inside buildings. Others appeared just outside or inside people's homes. A few appeared in the army bases where five out of six kombatants were presently. Others appeared in Johnny's movie studio also. The pattern indicated the whereabouts of the portals was organized, about one every fifty yards or so, although no humans were thinking of that. With casual bystanders and kombatants alike watching, several Centaurs rushed forward from inside each of the portals.

The invasion had suddenly begun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In Hong Kong, the army base that housed Jax, Liu and Kitana had been alert and saw the portals instantly. An alarm was sounded as every soldier grabbed a rocket launcher and headed towards a designated area. Three Centaurs found themselves exiting a portal that was in the middle of the base. As soon as they had stepped out, expecting to find a panicked crowd, they saw that they were surrounded by a score of Special Forces troops, each armed with a 45 mm Arol.

"Open fire!", the leader of the small platoon ordered.

Three of the twenty soldiers pulled the trigger of their weapon. Before any of the three Centaurs could even react, they were efficiently shot on the spot. A shell exploded into the chest of each one and all three dropped to the ground dead.

Liu was in his room when he heard the screams. The monk rushed outside and into the hallway. The first sight he saw was several soldiers in either jungle camouflage or black commando outfits running past him each with a rocket launcher at the ready. Part of the wall in the hallway behind the team of soldiers erupted from outside and sent pieces of concrete flying in every direction. An eight-foot tall Centaur emerged into the hall, looking for victims. The last man in the team which was heading down the hallway turned around and fired a shell into it. The shell from the rocket launcher exploded in the intruder's chest and he dropped dead inside the hole he had created in the wall. Seeing the effect of the military, Liu decided to go outside and give a helping hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The sun was almost set in the heart of Hong Kong as the civilians were unexpectedly attacked by the Centaurs. Hysteria had overcome many people as they witnessed bloodshed at the hands of the invaders. The foreign military had its hands full as it tried to restore order, since the local police force was obviously overwhelmed.

Approximately thirty people had seeked refuge in a small stadium as they locked the door behind them. They were trying to stay as quiet as possible in the hopes of evading the slaughter that was taking place everywhere in the city. Unknown to them, it was also taking place everywhere on the globe. Several of the people were lamenting the loss of a loved one as a young woman kept her ear pressed against the stadium door, wishing to hear any approaching footsteps. She heard nothing, thus indicated that they were not being pursued. The people inside breathed a sigh of relief as the young lady kept her ear pressed against the door.

With the refugees inside believing they were temporarily out of danger, the stadium door was then knocked down from outside. It knocked over the woman who had been listening through it and pinned her against the ground under it. Several Centaurs were behind the as they eagerly rushed in, looking for human victims. The lady who found herself under the door was momentarily asking how the invaders had managed to reach the door without being heard by her. She didn't have long to ponder about it because the first Centaur who stepped on the door on his way into the stadium crushed her under his weight. She screamed for a few seconds before dying, but the screams from everyone else in the stadium drowned hers out.

One Centaur had stayed in front of the stadium doorway without coming in as he kept a watch for any humans who tried to intervene from outside. If any Earth natives had tried to get inside the stadium to help any of the humans there, the Centaur's task was to eliminate them. That one looked to his left and saw nothing but burning buildings. Hearing the tires of a vehicle to his right, he looked in that direction, assuming it was a human who was trying to flee the area. His assumption was wrong because the Centaur saw a dark van as it sped towards him and then stopped about forty yards ahead of him. The back of the van was pushed open and over a dozen humans, all dressed in black, rushed out of it in single file.

"GO, GO, GO, GO!", major Briggs yelled as his commandos ran towards the stadium entrance also.

The first soldier out aimed his Arol at the Centaur guard and pulled the trigger before that one could even think of a proper response. A 45 mm shell fired from his rocket launcher and exploded in the Centaur's stomach, sending him staggering through the open stadium doorway. The guard was thrown inside the stadium and fell on his side as he quickly bled to death. The other Centaurs inside saw their downed colleague and knew that something was wrong. By the time they did, though, eleven soldiers were dashing into the stadium as another two climbed the wall surrounding the area. Seeing the resistance, the Centaurs dropped their current victims and charged towards the supposed rescuers. Those were standing still at the doorway, each soldier aiming his rocket launcher at a particular Centaur.

"Open fire!", Jax ordered.

He was the first to pull the trigger of his own Arol. All the other ten commandos fired simultaneously, effectively stopping the Centaurs dead in their tracks before those even took their fifth step forward. The shooting stopped as suddenly as it had started. When the smoke cleared, all the Centaurs and a fraction of the civilians who were attacked inside the stadium were lying dead in a pool of blood. However, a bigger fraction of the civilians was alive.

"I see one!", one of the soldiers who had climbed the wall spotted a live Centaur trying to escape through the opposite side of the stadium.

The only surviving invader was trying to run towards the wall of the opposite side, hoping he could smash through it before the humans opened fire.

"Drop him now!", Jax ordered as he was reloading his own rocket launcher.

The soldier on the wall aimed at the Centaur without delay and pulled the trigger. A thin trail of smoke shot out of his portable rocket launcher and traversed the stadium before hitting the target in the upper back. The Centaur screamed as he was thrown forward into the wall. With a gaping hole in his back, he sank to the ground without being able to destroy the wall as he slowly died.

Jax surveyed their performance. He was proud of the way his team handled the situation. He was hoping the military base in Washington DC was doing just as well, though he feared that may not be so. Major Briggs knew the soldiers in the U.S. mainland did not have a full stock of Arols yet.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Liu made his way through the streets of Hong Kong, feeling dismayed that the city which was alive with people only hours ago was presently on fire and smelled of death. He was not alone, since Kitana was keeping watch with him as they made their way through the street on their own. The monk had dropped by her room hoping to find her before he set outside the army barracks. To his delight, he had.

Both kombatants heard a cry originating from the left. Wanting to get involved, they headed in that direction. The scene they saw once they approached the area comprised of two Centaurs as those two bullied a woman around. A man who was about her same age and three small children were lying nearby in their blood, presumably dead. Both Centaurs stopped as soon as they saw the humans approaching. Liu's and Kitana's fighting stance nonverbally told the invaders they were being challenged.

"Take the citizen and leave", Liu whispered to Kitana, "I can handle this on my own, assuming I am not burdened with the thought of having to defend her life while I attack".

Kitana knew from her experience that Liu always meant what he said and never overestimated. The Outworld princess went ahead and helped the woman up to her feet, as that one was left behind while the two Centaurs approached the White Lotus monk. As he watched them leave, Liu knew he could now strike without restraint.

Since both Centaurs were advancing against him standing side by side, the monk leapt forward as if trying to execute a flying kick. Instead, he extended both his outstretched legs ahead of his upper body. Each of his feet slammed into the chest of one of the Centaurs and knocked the invaders backwards. Both adversaries staggered a few steps back as the monk landed on his feet. Acting fast, he rushed towards the Centaur on his right, kicking that one in the side of the knee. As that one screamed in pain, Liu executed a flying kick aimed at the second Centaur's stomach. His extended leg hit the target exactly as intended and the second one moaned in pain, staggering backwards.

The monk then rushed back to his first adversary as that one had recovered. Twisting to his left, he sent his right foot into the first Centaur's stomach. As that one bent down, gasping for breath, Liu twisted around in a roundhouse kick. The back of his ankle slammed into his opponent's lowered head and knocked him down on his side.

Liu then sensed the second Centaur rushing towards him from behind. The monk twisted around in time to see the invader charging at him as that one had his upper body lowered. He seemed to intend to crash his horns into the monk's head. As he neared, Liu jumped vertically into the air and shot both his legs shot out ahead of his own body. His feet simultaneously impacted into the Centaur's lowered horns and that one stopped cold in his tracks. The monk landed on the ground on his back. However, he jumped back up to his feet long before his adversary could take advantage of his position.

As he saw the first Centaur getting back up from behind him while the second Centaur was about to swing from in front of him, Liu turned sideways. Facing neither opponent fully, he leapt up into the air and shot his legs out, one directly to his left and the other directly to his right. The bottom of each foot slammed into the chest of one of the adversaries and sent them staggering backwards again.

While the second Centaur staggered away, Liu followed the first one as that one came to a stop after several steps. Still finding him dazed, the monk sent a front kick into the first one's stomach. He then followed it with an uppercut as that one bent down, gasping for air. The first Centaur staggered even further away as Liu then sensed the second adversary charging at him from behind again. Without bothering to turn around to make sure, the monk jumped aside and rolled away on the ground. He looked back in time to see the second Centaur rushing into the space where he was standing a moment ago. The second invader had his horns lowered like before and he wasn't able to stop his forward rush when the human bolted out of the way. He thus kept going ahead and his horns stabbed the first Centaur in the chest. The injured comrade roared and fell down on the ground, bleeding profusely from the chest.

The second Centaur pulled away, not worried about the consequences of his actions. Before he was able to turn around, he felt a sharp hit from behind as Liu had executed a flying kick into him. The monk's extended leg had impacted into the Centaur's human-like upper back. That one then was pushed forward and impacted involuntarily with the body of his dead comrade again as Liu jumped to the side and landed gracefully on his feet.

Angered and injured at the same time, the remaining Centaur turned around, looking to take his rage out on the human responsible. He did not get a chance to because the first thing he saw was Liu standing about ten steps away. The second thing he saw was several human commandos dressed in black who ran up and stopped several yards behind the monk. One of the commandos raised his weapon and fired as the Centaur charged ahead. A 45 mm shell exploded into the second Centaur's chest, throwing him backwards until he collided with his dead colleague yet again. He sank to the ground dead.

"How many times have I told you not to take off by yourself?", Jax approached Liu from behind.

"I was not alone", the monk defended himself, "Kitana was with me".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Motaro had made it his point to arrive through a portal that was placed in the capital of what was perceived as the only remaining superpower left in the Earth realm. He surveyed his troops as each one of the portals sent anything from three to a dozen Centaurs through to the conquered land.

"Submit the population", Motaro ordered, "Destroy all who resist!".

The first soldier in the base in Washington DC to see Centaurs charging through the portal was on the grounds outside the main buildings. He was caught off-guard like everyone else and didn't possess the adequate weaponry, having only his 9mm pistol by his side. Not knowing that the portals were everywhere, the soldier screamed in order to send out an alarm to the others as he withdrew the handgun. He fired three shots into the first Centaur who rushed towards him, although that one had three others behind him in a line. The soldier's three bullets stopped as soon as they hit the first Centaur's midsection, barely breaking the skin. The Centaur next reached the man before that one had time to react further and trampled him under four merciless legs. Another soldier ran out of the building, seeing the result of the Centaur's actions and counting his blessings for having a loaded Arol with him as he was returning from practice. Raising the Arol ahead of him, the enlistee aimed for the invader who had crushed the Special Forces member under his legs. Seeing the second soldier, the Centaur rushed at him next. He wasn't able to get five yards before the soldier fired and the 45 millimeter shell tore a clean hole through the Centaur's chest. That one screamed and dropped on the ground as his three comrades remained on the forward rush. The soldier eagerly fired the second shot and a second shell exploded into the stomach of the next Centaur in line. With only two out of four invaders left, the soldier knew his weapon was empty and thus rushed back into the building, closing the door behind him and knowing it wouldn't do much good. Both Sonya and Scott looked up as they heard the portable rocket launchers being fired and the screams from the first two Centaurs following.

"THEY'RE HERE!", the soldier with the empty Arol cried out, wanting to ensure everyone that the warning was real and not another practice drill.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Let's go", Scott spoke first before they both headed out of the office, reasoning that their warning about the Centaurs was no longer needed.

It was already well-known that there weren't enough Arols around yet to cover every person on the base. Thus, those soldiers who didn't have one assigned to them yet and were still waiting understood that they had to be satisfied without them. Sonya's first action as she headed outside of the office was to tie her hair in a tail at the back of her head, something she was always used to doing when in uniform. The first soldier they ran into was carrying a supply of AK-47's and clips, looking to supply in a hurry those members who didn't have a rocket launcher at their disposal. Seeing the two of them, he quickly tossed two AK-47's their way.

"Be creative", the soldier advised as he rushed to meet others.

Screams and battle cries followed in the base as soldiers were trying to organize themselves. The first Centaur in the building savagely tore his way through the wall and rushed into the hallway, meeting several surprised, and armed, Special Forces members. A hail of machine gun bullets followed as each soldier fired his respective AK-47 into him, throwing him backwards as he landed on his back with numerous holes in him. One AK-47 alone would not have done so much damage, but several at once made sure the Centaur did not get back up. However, many more Centaurs followed him into the building, actually ending up by outnumbering the humans in the base.

On the second floor, one Centaur drove his horns into a soldier's back as that one was aiming towards one of his comrades with an Arol. The man was only allowed a short scream as the Centaur's horns stabbed into his upper back, lifted him off the floor and then slammed him down on the floor face-first, crushing his windpipe. The Centaur then pulled his bloody horns out of his prey and began looking for his next target. He spotted another soldier with an Arol aimed at him from a short distance away. He charged forward with his head lowered, his horns impacting into the man's chest and crushing that one against the concrete wall before the weapon could've been fired. The soldier slid towards the floor in a bloody mess as the Centaur triumphantly pulled away. He desired to keep count of the number of humans from Earth's warrior class that he would destroy before their invasion was complete. Among the screams and disorder, he grabbed another human from behind as that one was aiming an AK-47 towards one of his comrades. The Centaur's powerful upper arms lifted the soldier off the floor as that one screamed and kept pulling on the trigger of his submachine gun. A hail of bullets from his weapon unintentionally hit another Special Forces member as that one was trying to fire a rocket launcher and killed him instantly. Glad to see the result, the Centaur next violently pushed the man upwards until that one's head collided with the ceiling, breaking his neck. The Centaur then let his third prey fall on the floor, happy to remind himself that the number of deaths directly attributed to him so far was four Earth warriors. As he then searched around for his fifth kill, an unarmed soldier in the hallway reached the body of the first member he had slaughtered. The soldier reached down and pulled the bloody, unfired, Arol out of the mangled corpse and aimed it at the Centaur as that one told himself he could not die with only four deaths on his mind.

"Surprise!", the soldier exclaimed as he pulled the trigger.

A 45 millimeter shell shot out of the weapon and impacted into the Centaur's head, blowing it off the rest of his body. Blood erupted everywhere around the decapitated invader as he fell on his side with a loud crash. The soldier responsible turned around to use the second shell in the weapon only to see another Centaur rushing towards him. He didn't have time to raise his Arol and could only watch for the split second that the aggressor needed to smash into him. Before the Centaur got a chance to, however, Scott fired several rounds from his AK-47 into that one's back, hurting him enough to stop him cold in his tracks. With his bloodied upper back annoying him with mild pain, the Centaur carelessly turned away from his original target and fixed his sights on the ninja. He was careless because he had completely neglected the fact that his original target had a loaded rocket launcher. With his back turned to that one and rushing for Scott, the soldier got the chance to raise the weapon and fire the second round into his back, killing him instantly.

"EVACUATE THE BASE! NOW!", Scott yelled out to all the survivors, realizing the close proximity in the building was working against them.

He only had a split second to look at the soldier whose life he had saved and who had then returned the favor. Before even being able to consider an escape route, a Centaur jumped through one of the windows on the second floor that overlooked the base. The fact that they were able to jump that high was a testament to their strength, but the remaining humans weren't about to give them respect for it. Sonya saw another four-legged intruder charging at an unknown and unarmed soldier. Before that one reached his target, she squeezed on the trigger of her AK-47 and emptied the entire clip on his upper body. The Centaur stopped and angrily turned at her, motioning one of his comrades to help him destroy the female who bothered him. Seeing two aggressors charging towards her at the same time, Sonya gasped and dropped the empty weapon before running in the opposite direction. Scott and the other soldier saw her from a distance as the two Centaurs were quickly gaining on her and she was running out of room to maneuver. It didn't take her long to realize she was cornered between two walls as the pair of antagonists closed in fast, looking for a quick impact into her with their horns. Without any other options and before any of the busy soldiers could free themselves from their opponents to help out, she bolted for a window that was possibly close enough. Scott's eyes widened when he saw her bursting through the glass and yelling as she jumped out the window, thus escaping the Centaurs' planned punishment.

"Come on! We have to withdraw and regroup!", one of the soldiers advised Scott amid the screams.

The ninja looked back for a split second at the broken window through which the kombatant had disappeared. He was wondering if she was still alive as he evacuated with the other survivors.

"I know what I heard, sir", the young enlistee insisted under cover of darkness as he addressed the colonel and the eight other soldiers listened, "A new shipment of Arols was coming this afternoon at the harbor. It was on the ship called Whitecap. It was anchored on the artificial lake three miles from here while we were waiting for the paperwork to come through. We had at least two hundred Arols, plus lots more ammo. That's plenty for us _and_ for anyone else who had survived".

"Suggestions", the colonel from Scott's former base in Hong Kong asked for advice.

"I don't see as to how we have any choice, sir", the ninja was the first to give his opinion, "We only have, what, one Arol and two AK-47's between all ten of us? That's a joke. We have to drop by this shipment and see if we can get our hands on this stuff".

"I'm with him", another soldier agreed.

"Same here", echoed another.

"Any objections?", the colonel asked, "I realize the old organized system is pretty much shot to hell. I want cooperation from everybody here to keep us all alive".

No one objected.

"OK then", the colonel continued, "Let's go find the Whitecap".

Thus, in the total darkness of the night, the ten men proceeded towards the harbor, hoping they would not run into any Centaurs along the way. They could only hear the sound of their own light breathing throughout the journey. The single line of ten Special Forces members had covered the first mile as the troops were thankful they didn't run into any more Centaurs along the way. The only demons haunting them were the ones in their own mind. They were beginning to think they would not have any trouble on their way to the artificial lake when the cold and quiet night air was filled with the roar from a nearby Centaur. All ten members, especially the three who were armed, twisted around, wondering where it had originated. They still had not pinpointed the source when the dark silhouette of a Centaur rose against the night sky and charged at them. The aggressor smashed into one of the men at random as the two soldiers with the AK-47's opened fire. The Centaur first destroyed his target's upper body before trampling that one under his legs, ignoring the petty bullets of the submachine guns as they tried to stop him. He then turned his attention to the other nine humans as the AK-47's quieted down. The Centaur guessed the humans were out of ammunition, and thus helpless. Unfortunately, he had guessed wrong because the soldier with the Arol fired the last available round and blew him away. The Centaur dropped by his side, either dead or dying, the soldiers didn't really care which.

One Special Forces member was holding the hand of his downed comrade as he squatted next to that one while the others gathered their attention again. The soldier who was hit was lying on his back. He didn't see the extent of his injuries because of the darkness, but he already knew he had received a fatal blow.

"Go, leave me", he whispered.

"No, man, I can't do that", the soldier squatted next to him replied, "_We_ can't do that".

"I said go!", the injured man pressed, "Let me die in peace here. I'm gonna get all of you killed if you stay".

The man next to him understood and slowly stood up, hating to have to leave one of his colleagues behind. He started crying as he realized he had to say farewell. Seeing the emotional soldier reminded Scott that he had left Sonya behind, but the ninja forced himself to remain emotionless, at least on the outside. He told himself that he had to be in total control at this time. Someone had to, for the sake of the team.

The nine men approached the artificial lake and combed the area surrounding the Whitecap as it was anchored at the shore. Seeing no movement, they stealthily moved closer until they spotted a ladder leading to the top of the small cargo ship. All nine soldiers climbed aboard, realizing they would have to carry as many of the weapons back by themselves as possible. Once on top of the ship, Scott detected the door that led to the lower level of the vessel, the area where all merchandise was undoubtedly kept. He tapped the man closest to him on the shoulder and pointed towards the door. Making his way towards it, he reached it and turned the knob, realizing that it was fortunately unlocked. He could've kicked it in if it had been locked, but doing so would've created unwanted noise, thus increasing the chances of a Centaur patrol spotting them.

The ninja followed the stairway that led downwards as the others were close behind him. Once in the lowest level of the ship, the nine soldiers eagerly opened some of the numerous crates there. To their delight, they found a dozen Arols in each crate, along with four shells for each rocket launcher. One of the men was heard cheering in a low voice at the discovery as Scott loaded the first Arol and held it in his arm, imagining all the vengeance he was going to get with its help. Retribution was going to be paid for with the Centaurs' blood for all the humans lost, and especially Sonya, if she was one of them.

Scott wondered how long he'd have to wait to find out her fate. As he signaled the others to arm themselves also, the door above which they had used to come downstairs suddenly closed. Everyone looked up, wondering what had just happened before they felt the entire boat being rocked on one side. With his right grip on an Arol, Scott was the first to race up the stairs and to try to pull the door open with his free hand, only to find out that it was locked from the outside. He and all the others then heard laughter from somewhere else as the ship they were in rocked even further.

"THIS IS WHERE YOU DIE, HUMANS!", they heard a Centaur's voice from outside, near the lake, "MY MEN ARE PUSHING YOUR BOAT INTO THE WATER. AND IF YOU TRY TO SHOOT YOUR WAY OUT OF THE HULL, THE EXPLOSION WILL DETONATE THE REST OF THE AMMUNITION THERE, AND YOU ALONG WITH IT!".

The laughter continued as the boat was pushed hard enough to crash horizontally on its side. The stairway under Scott's feet broke apart and the ninja found himself being hurled towards the wall, which was now the floor. He gracefully landed on his feet as the other soldiers were roughly pushed towards it. Water quickly began engulfing the lowest level, where the men were, as they realized the Centaurs had been waiting for them the entire time.

"Shoot the door!", one soldier screamed.

"Can't", Scott replied, "He's right. One spark here and all the Arol shells go off simultaneously".

"We can't just sit here and drown!", the soldier exclaimed, "How the hell did they know we were even coming?".

Scott's eyes widened as he realized what Sonya had told him. A group of humans had been selling information to the Centaurs, telling them about the Earth's strengths and weaknesses. Sonya had also mentioned that these betrayers knew about the Arols, thus it made sense that they might've known about the shipments also. The ninja cursed at himself for not realizing that fact sooner and using the information to warn his squad as they decided to head for the Whitecap. The level of the water was already almost a foot high and rising fast. The only door out of the lowest level of the ship was now locked and in a horizontal position since the boat was on its side. Even if it hadn't been locked, it was still about ten feet above everyone's head.

The Centaurs who were in the water swam back after they had pushed the Whitecap into the center of the artificial lake. They pulled away towards the shore as they saw the ship lying on its side on the surface of the water. They knew it would sink soon and take all the humans inside with it. Motaro proudly motioned his men away from the shore of the lake as he decided to head for a drier spot in order to watch the deaths of several members of Earth's warrior class. The Centaurs moved about fifty yards away from the edge of the water and all stood behind Motaro as they blissfully watched the ship slowly disappear below the surface of the lake. They were still watching, thinking to themselves that they had won this confrontation unconditionally when they spotted a lone human. The human silhouette was approaching the lake from the side opposite their own. The person stopped for a brief moment and stared into their direction, indicating that they were seen also. With Motaro wondering where that individual had come from, the human dove into the lake and began swimming towards the sinking ship.

"Stop him!", Motaro ordered, not wanting anyone getting in the way of his victory.

Centaurs rushed ahead and soon jumped into the water as well, looking to stop the human from reaching the ship.

Inside the ship itself, the level of the water had reached the men's waistline as they were still desperately trying to figure out a way to save their lives.

"Dammit, man! Fuck this!", a soldier yelled out, "Just blow through the side of the wall and let's take our chances! It's better than dying like this!".

Everyone seemed to agree. It was better to open fire and risk getting blown apart from the ammunition than it was to remain idle and drown for sure. Scott was about to advise that everyone but him should submerge under the water and stay as far away from the ammunition as possible. He saw that it would only be fitting that he be the one who fired the shot, realizing that it would put him at the greatest risk. As he was about to announce the dangerous plan, the horizontal door overhead was suddenly pushed open from outside. The nine men next saw two human arms as the person who had opened it looked down at them.

"Anybody here want a hand?", Sonya extended both her arms down towards the soldiers, "You better hurry because we have a lot of four legs swimming over here to stop us from leaving".

"Go on!", Scott didn't need to encourage anyone, but he did anyway.

The ninja patiently waited as the water level was nearing his chest. One soldier after another was boosted upward by using a comrade to step on and then gripped the lady kombatant's hand. They had an Arol in one hand and used their other hand to be pull out. Fortunately, everyone proved to be physically fit enough to carry out the task without slipping out of her hand. After the first seven men were out the door in that fashion, Sonya told them not to bother waiting, since it was obvious the Centaurs had almost arrived. The seven soldiers jumped into the lake and began to swim towards the side of the lake that was opposite to where the Centaurs were approaching from. The invaders' heavy bulk gave them great strength, but also disadvantaged them since they were much slower in the water.

Scott placed his palms together in the water in front of his stomach as he offered it to the colonel, desiring to be the last one out.

"No, I can't", the colonel protested as he held a rocket launcher in his left hand, "You should go ahead".

"Come on", the ninja insisted, "I won't take a 'no' for an answer".

Seeing there was no point in arguing with his ex-private, the colonel raised his right leg and stepped on Scott's palms. The ninja pushed him upwards until his extended right hand gripped Sonya's and she pulled him out of the horizontal door. The kombatant looked down after she saw her former superior jumping into the water also. She heard a blunt noise and assumed it was the sound of the first Centaur reaching the opposite side of the ship.

"Come on, Scottyyy", her tone of voice told him they had no time to waste as she heard a second blunt noise, "Jump up as high as you can".

Scott agreed that they were pressed in terms of time since the water had almost reached his neck. He first quickly wrapped two loaded Arols to his upper back. Using the momentum his exceptional anatomy provided him with, he leapt into the air and gripped her right hand with both his own hands. Sonya helped pull him upwards and back as he made his way out the door. They both stood up on the shaky ground the side of the ship provided just in time to see two Centaurs approaching them from the other side. Scott actually made a move towards the first aggressor, but pull on the arm from Sonya indicated to him that this was not the time for a fight. They had to retreat, especially since other Centaurs were following the first two.

"LOSERS!", the ninja yelled just before they both jumped into the water, knowing they could easily outswim their pursuers.

Standing on the other side of the shore, Motaro saw the result and groaned to himself. He was disappointed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Johnny was busy shooting the last scene from his movie and didn't have his sunglasses on when two portals had appeared in the giant studio. Everyone was suddenly quiet as they watched the bright portals stay as they were for several seconds. The portals outshone the light projectiles that had a sheet of glass covering a strong light bulb. The brightness of those projectiles seemed to vanish when compared to the light emanating from the portals. Terror followed as eight Centaurs leapt out, four from each portal. The first several people who were closest to the portals were either trampled under the invaders' legs or lifted into the air as they were stabbed by their horns. The kombatant was the only person in the studio to realize what was going on, so he pushed his way past the panicked crowd as he proceeded towards the chaos and the unexpected killing. He didn't know exactly why he was heading towards the scene while everyone else was retreating away from it, but he knew he had to.

Reaching the first group of Centaurs, the initial thing Johnny saw was the nine crushed human bodies around the invaders. It had only taken him about half a minute to reach the area of the first portal, but it was enough time for the Centaurs to already claim nine lives. Even though he sympathized with the victims, he was forced to turn his attention away because a tenth man was nearby, frozen with fear. The man was alive, so Johnny thought about how that one's situation could be helped as the four Centaurs with the bloody horns stared at the two remaining humans. The kombatant had to divert the invaders' attention, not even worrying about the other four invaders who were terrorizing the studio about fifty yards away. Trying to block out the faraway sound that the second half of the eight Centaurs were creating, the actor grabbed a heavy camera which weighed about thirty pounds.

"You better leave", Johnny turned to the frozen man, "I'll keep them busy".

The man did not move, much to his disappointment.

"Move!", the kombatant pressed.

Fortunately, the man woke up after his second attempt. Staring briefly at the four Centaurs as they seemed to have the actor cornered, he wondered if he should follow Johnny's advice. He did and turned away, running past the bodies and towards one of the numerous exit doors. All four Centaurs rushed towards the kombatant at once and he responded by charging ahead also. Johnny reached the Centaur farthest to the right and smashed the camera on that one's face. The first Centaur stopped cold since small pieces of glass littered his face, some of them entering his eyes. Gnarling, the invader snapped his head upwards as he desperately tried to pull the minuscule bits of glass out of his eyes. They proved to be incredibly annoying since his fingers were much too large to pick them out.

Johnny's mind was already away from the first adversary as he then turned his attention towards the remaining three. The kombatant leapt aside and rolled on the floor as the Centaurs came at him, reacting as one. He grabbed one of the many projectiles as it was shooting a thick beam of light several yards away. Johnny gripped the thin body of the projectile as he held its round, flat head ahead of himself. The actor pushed his own upper body backwards as he saw the Centaur at the furthest left of the three rushing into the glass that covered the powerful light bulb. The Centaur easily shattered the glass and then the light bulb. His horns next met the live socket which fed 4000 volts of electricity into the light bulb. Johnny released his grip on the projectile as he heard the Centaur moaning while that one's body violently convulsed. The electricity which shocked the invader also kept the projectile attached to his thorns and wouldn't release him, even after the actor let go of the projectile. The Centaur kept convulsing and staggered away with the projectile adamantly attached to his head.

The two remaining Centaurs saw what happened to their second comrade as a result of the human's actions. They stopped cold and retreated several steps, realizing they had to choose their plan of attack carefully around him. Some distance away, the second Centaur was finally able to stagger far enough so that the cord which fed the electricity into the projectile was pulled out of the wall. The power in the projectile having ceased, he fell on his side, exhausted. Seeing it, one of the two healthy Centaurs who were facing the kombatant galloped ahead and circling several yards around him. Johnny soon found himself facing one opponent at his immediate left and another at his immediate right. Both Centaurs lowered their head and shoulders ahead of the rest of their stomach and charged towards him. Seeing it, the kombatant knew he had one chance of escaping the trap alive and defeating both his adversaries at once.

With one Centaur running towards him from either side, Johnny executed a fast leg split. His legs were widened into a straight line as his upper body sank towards the floor. The Centaur on the right galloped past the actor's extended right leg from either side of it since his four legs were about a yard apart. The Centaur on the left galloped past the extended left leg on either side of it in exactly the same fashion. The kombatant looked up and his face tightened as the horns from both Centaurs smashed into each other over his own head. The fact that each Centaur had lowered his shoulders forward made sure that they stopped upon impact a short distance away on either side of Johnny's upper body. Both opponents staggered backwards, raised their head and saw stars as they tried to remain standing. The brave human then pulled himself up from the split.

"That's what you get when you mess with humans", the kombatant stated as he walked up to the first Centaur.

He executed a roundhouse kick, the back of his ankle slamming into the dazed first opponent's head and knocking that one down by his side as he groaned. The second dazed Centaur saw what happened, but was too weak to react. He could only watch as he next saw the kombatant flying into his chest with an extended right leg. The human's right foot crashed into his chest and sent him staggering backwards even more before he also crashed on his side.

With four adversaries defeated, at least momentarily, Johnny turned in time to see the other four Centaurs as those were finished dismembering every human they could find. They saw him too and were especially surprised at the damage he had inflicted against their other comrades. The kombatant knew he wasn't out of danger as he next saw all four approaching him. Not wishing to try out his luck against four fresh opponents, the actor dashed for the nearest exit door. The Centaurs galloped towards it also, looking to cut him off. Johnny reached it first, opened the door and rushed into the cold night air outside. Once outside the studio, he proceeded to close the metal door behind him before he kept running. All that got him was an instant because the first Centaur at the scene had lowered his head and knocked the door out of its foundation. Once outside also, all four invaders stopped and searched. One of them soon saw the human dashing towards the left from about fifty yards away.

"Bah, leave him", the leader of the small pack decided, "He is not worth the trouble".

The three subordinate Centaurs then followed their leader's orders and went back into the studio to help their four comrades. Unknown to them, their leader had kept them from chasing after the human because he was worried about being made a fool out of in front of his followers.

Realizing that he wasn't being pursued, Johnny was able to cease running. He stopped and surveyed the scene in front of him as he caught his breath. Ahead of him, he saw scores of mangled human corpses in the middle of a unfamiliar street which had residential homes on either side. From the amount of blood on the asphalt, the kombatant could tell the Centaurs had made sure everyone there was dead before they had gone elsewhere. He only heard birds outside, no human voices of survivors calling for help. He tried not to shiver as the cold from the air and the disgust from the invaders' actions overtook him.

Johnny's face snapped to his right as he heard a distant human voice. It had sounded as if the person was in pain. Not even knowing whether it was a man or a woman, the kombatant ran towards that general direction. The dash continued for about one block before he reached the intersection of two streets. Stepping in the middle of the intersection, he first looked to his left and saw nothing. He then looked to his right and his head snapped back as he witnessed a giant Centaur fighting against two, obviously overmatched, humans. The first man carried a long and heavy lead pipe. The Centaur punched him in the head, sending him flying several steps away and forcing him to lose the grip on the lead pipe. As that one was on the ground, the Centaur next gripped the second man by his collar with one hand and lifted him into the air. As Johnny raced towards the scene from forty yards away, the Centaur sent his horns into the second man's face, either knocking that one unconscious or killing him instantly. As the first man then stood back up, the Centaur carried the second one in a horizontal position before tossing him towards the first. The second human flew in midair before his head collided into the solar plexus of his comrade. Blood flew out of the mouth of the first man and he fell down on his back, not getting back up this time.

Johnny stopped cold from about ten yards away as he saw the invader's moves. He reasoned that it was possible Centaurs knew about human anatomy, thus explaining why this one had aimed the second man as he did. Or it might've been just luck that the head of the second man had collided into the solar plexus of the first. Satisfied at seeing his work, the Centaur turned away from the two humans and froze, noticing the actor for the first time. He smiled as he realized the kombatant stood his ground instead of trying to run away like most of the other humans had done. Understanding the challenge, the Centaur took a step towards the human adversary, looking forward to having another victory.

One step was all he could afford because a car appeared from down the street in back of him. Johnny saw the red vehicle also as it sped towards the Centaur from behind. The Centaur, in his turn, twisted his face around two seconds before the car crashed into his hind legs. The invader screamed as his hind legs buckled and he knew he was temporarily disabled. The unknown driver then shifted the car into reverse and backed away from the Centaur for about thirty yards. The vehicle then stopped a split second before it accelerated forward again. The Centaur's injured hind legs prevented him from being able to get out of the way and he could only watch as the damaged hood of the car slammed into him again. His head arched upwards and he let out a second yell as smoke exited from the hood of the vehicle, indicating it could not be driven any more.

Seeing his chance, and happy to take advantage of the opportunity, Johnny approached the helpless Centaur as that one's hind legs seemed to be a part of the car's hood. The invader looked at the actor as he tried not to show the amount of pain the back of his lower section was experiencing. Grinning, Johnny took his time as he walked over to the lead pipe the first man had dropped on the street. Picking it up, the kombatant then neared the Centaur, making it clear that he intended to use the weapon as he saw fit. With the Centaur growling angrily, yet unable to move, the human twisted his waist to the left as the lead pipe extended past his left shoulder.

"The best thing to do to a horse that broke its leg is to put it out of its misery", Johnny told the invader.

With those words, the actor swung the pipe with as much force as possible towards the right. The pipe crashed into the invader's mouth and knocked him over on his side. The Centaur didn't even try to get back up to his feet, knowing his hind legs would not allow it and that he'd receive a second blow from the human if he managed to somehow succeed. Showing no mercy, Johnny raised the pipe over his head with both hands before bringing it down on his adversary's horns, making that one see stars. Just then, he heard the driver of the vehicle exiting out of it. He had to stare at the man for a few seconds, as that one's face looked familiar. It was only after a few moments that the kombatant recognized him.

"Wait a sec", Johnny pointed at him, "You're the cop, aren't you? The one who was coming in when Sonya found those bodies".

"You may call me Olsen", the detective replied, "And I _definitely_ know you, although I didn't expect to see you under these conditions. I was just out for a drive home".

"Nice job with the car", the actor let him know, "It made my job easier".

With that, the kombatant lifted the pipe past his right shoulder as the dazed Centaur helplessly looked up. Swinging the pipe downward as if it was a golf club, Johnny angrily sent a third blow into the invader's head, knocking that one's senses apart. Before he was able to deliver any other hits, both he and detective Olsen saw and heard a group of seven Centaurs appearing at the end of the street.

"That's not good, is it?", the detective asked out loud.

"No, it's not", the kombatant replied, dropping the lead pipe on the ground, "Let's scram while we still can".

Both men ran down the street, leaving Olsen's battered car behind. The Centaur lay on the ground in front of the vehicle. He was still moving when Johnny ran past him and away from his advancing comrades.

"I wish we had more time with that son of a bitch", Olsen commented about the Centaur they had been forced to abandon as he had his 9mm Smith & Wesson withdrawn.

"That won't do you any good, detective", Johnny flatly told him.

"What won't?".

"The handgun", the actor let him know, "It's practically useless against them".

"Come on", the detective thought he knew better, "I know that goddamn... watchamacallit... is tough, but it's _still_ flesh and blood. And lead always destroys flesh and blood, unless of course the flesh and blood happens to be wearing a vest, and those things were not".

"I wish that was the case", Johnny replied.

Olsen stopped briefly, staring at the actor.

"Here's a question", he asked, eyes locked with the kombatant, "How do you know they're impervious to bullets?".

"I've seen them before", the actor admitted.

"Where? You know where these things are from?".

"Unfortunately, and it's nowhere in this world", Johnny answered.

"Great, we're dealing with aliens from outer space now".

"No, just habitants from another dimension. I was there", the kombatant went on, "One of my friends fired three rounds into one of them and it barely scratched him. That's how I know your weapon won't do any good".

"And what the hell are they doing here?", the detective questioned next.

Before the kombatant could answer, he heard a slight noise coming from the sky above. He lifted his face upwards and saw the searchlights of a distant helicopter as that one approached. He tapped Olsen on the shoulder and pointed towards it. The detective followed his gaze and spotted the helicopter also. The helicopter came somewhat closer, thus increasing the noise from its propellers. While it still hovered over a spot about a mile away, the actor and the detective saw a yellow flash shooting out of the chopper as it was aimed for the ground below it. Following the flash, an explosion which they couldn't see because of the trees and buildings was heard. Johnny's sharp hearing caught a distant moan. Several more flashes followed the first one and slammed into the ground also, each carrying an explosive sound after it.

"That's an Army helicopter", the kombatant turned his face towards Olsen, "It's shooting at these Centaurs and they're dying. The Army is fighting back. _We're_ fighting back".

"Maybe so, but we need to be more organized than this", the detective stared back, "I don't know about you, but I think we should go the police station. At least we'll find some firepower there we can use, if not additional help for our side".

Johnny thought about the choice for a few seconds, realizing he did not have a better alternative in mind.

"Sounds good", he agreed, "Is it far?".

"No", Olsen told him, "I was coming from that direction when they hit all of a sudden. I guess it's about a mile from here".

"Then let's go", the kombatant encouraged.

Both men were fortunate not to run into any more Centaurs as they neared the main door of Olsen's police station. They had kept up with a steady jog through the deserted streets, stopping only when they found a human lying immobile on the ground. In every case, the person had been dead, so there was nothing either the kombatant or the detective could do. Olsen led the way as he climbed up the few stairs that were before the door and then pushed the door open. The detective was astounded when he saw how quickly the station had turned from a lively place filled with scores of police officers to a dark, unlit area where nothing could be heard.

"The armaments are kept in the basement", Olsen whispered as Johnny followed him in and closed the door behind them.

Passing desks, they stepped on the numerous papers that littered the floor as they made their way to the stairs.

"Maybe it's all the better that everybody left here", Olsen spoke as Johnny was two steps behind, "Considering how these... things... probably don't like the police, just like all conquerors don't".

"What do you mean?", the kombatant asked as they reached the head of the stairs on the first floor, getting ready to go downstairs.

"It's a part of history", the detective went on, stepping down the stairs, "Like when the Nazis attacked and overtook a country, they sometimes arrested its entire police force, replaced it with their own troops. Huh, I'd like to see that trying to happen here".

"It won't", Johnny told himself as they reached the basement.

"OK, these closets carry the 9mm pistols", the young detective pointed, "And those over there have the shotguns. Personally, I think we should go for the latter, it probably damages these things more that way".

"They're called Centaurs", the kombatant let him know, following him to the metal closet for the shotguns.

"These Centaurs", Olsen repeated as he was about to open the closet.

Just then, they both heard a sound from behind them. Naturally cautious, they quickly turned around as Johnny was already in his fighting stance. He was able to relax when he saw a man younger than himself and the detective as that one aimed a high-powered shotgun in their direction. The younger man lowered the weapon at the sight of more humans and approached them from fifteen yards away. He was dressed in an official police uniform as he also wore a bulletproof vest over his outfit.

"Detective?", he asked, "It's good to see you".

"Wait, I know you", Olsen replied, trying to remember the name, "It's Pensky, am I right?".

"Yes, sir", the young officer came closer, examining Johnny, "And _you_. Is that...".

"Yeah, it's me", Johnny smiled.

"Damn! I've seen all your movies", Pensky smiled, "How did you find your way here?".

"Long story", the kombatant admitted.

"Is anyone else here with you?", Olsen asked him, turning back before he opened the metal closet.

"No, sir", the officer replied, "I'm alone".

"And", the detective twisted his face towards Pensky as he reached into the closet, "You can cut the 'sir'. This is not official duty time".

"OK", Pensky replied.

"Besides, I doubt the city would pay you for the time you're spending here", Olsen smiled as he turned his attention back to the closet, "So we're all equals".

"But why did you stay if everybody else left?", Johnny questioned the armed officer.

"I don't really know", Pensky had to answer, "I guess I just couldn't take the idea of having a police station empty. I mean, what if someone came here looking for help?".

The younger officer chuckled as he finished his statement. Olsen pulled himself out of the closet as he held another shotgun, much like the one Pensky was carrying. The detective was loading his as the younger officer reached behind him with his left hand.

"These shotguns we have are pretty neat", he continued, "But I found this one asskicker that should really do our job for us".

With that, Pensky withdrew a larger, double-barreled shotgun that had been strapped to his back. Olsen sighed in approval at the sight.

"It's practically a cannon, but it also only carries four rounds", Pensky explained, handing the larger weapon to the detective, "So we can only fire it twice. And it _is_ loaded".

"Good, good, gooood", Olsen approved as he gripped the double-barreled firearm with his left hand.

Since the detective had both hands full with the smaller shotgun he had withdrawn from the closet, he passed the regular one towards Johnny's direction.

"Do you know how to use this?", Olsen asked as he handed the shotgun to the actor, "I could show you how to undo the safety if you haven't. It's already loaded and ready to go also".

"No thanks", the kombatant surprised them as he waved his hands in front of his chest, "Guns and I never mix".

"This isn't the time to be moral", Pensky warned, "Have you seen what those goddamn things are doing out there to everybody?".

"Those Centaurs", Olsen added.

"Huh?", Pensky was confused.

"Those things are called Centaurs", the detective clarified.

"Great, now I know something I didn't when I woke up this morning", the younger officer said, "How do you even expect to survive, much less fight back, if you're not gonna be armed, Johnny?".

"It's not about morals", the actor defended his position, remembering his experiences in Israel, "I _have_ been around guns before. I just operate better when I'm unarmed".

"I must strongly disagree under these conditions", Pensky insisted.

"Thanks, but I really don't want them", Johnny pressed.

"OK", Olsen withdrew his second weapon back towards him, "But if you change your mind, it's here".

There was a brief silence as the detective strapped the smaller shotgun to his back and kept the double-barreled weapon in his hands.

"I think we should start after you and me have one gun as well as a reserve", Olsen spoke to Pensky, knowing now that the actor did not want any weapons, "Strapping a second loaded shotgun on you as well as carrying some extra ammo would be a good idea".

"I agree", Pensky strapped the smaller, high-powered firearm to his back before he reached into the closet to withdraw another one just like it.

As Pensky loaded the new one he held, Olsen reached into the closet and withdrew several extra rounds, sharing them between himself and the younger officer.

"Ready?", Olsen asked.

"Yep", Pensky answered, "Regular foot patrol is about to take on a whole new meaning".

All three men went back upstairs to the first floor of the police station. Once there, Olsen turned on one of the many lights as Pensky opened a map of the city on a desk.

"I think we should start here", the young officer pointed at a spot on the map, "It's a theater house about three blocks away. It's a well-known public place, but inside the building. So a lot of people probably rushed in there for safety. Where there are people, Centaurs might follow".

"Agreed", the detective added, looking at Johnny, "Unless there are any other ideas".

"No", the kombatant shook his head, "You guys probably know this neighborhood better than me. I'll follow".

"We might need flashlights", Pensky went on.

Neither man answered.

"It _is_ nighttime out", the young officer clarified, "And I doubt these Centaurs are gonna leave the lights on for us. They could come in handy".

"OK", the detective continued, "There are some really high-beam ones upstairs on the second floor. We could easily borrow three".

"I'll go get'em", Pensky headed for the stairs.

"I'll come with you", Johnny followed, not wanting to see how the officer planned to carry three flashlights and a shotgun back downstairs with only two hands.

As both men were halfway up the stairs, Olsen was busy wrapping the city map since he reasoned they might want to take it with them. Before he was done, the closed door of the police station blew open from outside with a loud blast, surprising all three men. Olsen reached for his double-barreled shotgun as he saw a Centaur forcing himself past the relatively small doorway and inside the first floor of the station. The Centaur galloped towards the detective with a scream as Pensky and the kombatant could only watch from the staircase. As that one was only two more steps away from his target, Olsen had already raised the double-barreled shotgun and it was aimed at the Centaur's face. The detective pulled the trigger and an explosion followed as two rounds simultaneously hit the giant intruder between the eyes. The Centaur roared as he was stopped cold and fell down on his side. A second Centaur behind the first one rushed past the downed invader's body, completely ignoring Olsen as he chased after the two men on the stairs.

"Go up! Go up!", Johnny mentioned the officer ahead of him, not wishing to have the confrontation on the staircase.

Pensky ran up and the actor followed. Once on the second floor, the officer turned around and tried to aim at their pursuer with his shotgun. His eyes widened as he saw the huge Centaur tearing apart the staircase in a rush to reach them. The invader reached the second floor and easily slapped the shotgun out of the officer's hand before that one had a chance to pull the trigger. The Centaur next punched the officer in the chest, sending him flying five yards backwards and to the left before he landed on his back. Other than having the wind knocked out of him, Pensky was unharmed because his bulletproof vest had absorbed the majority of the impact from the punch. The Centaur approached the downed officer, looking to finish the job, when he saw Johnny standing in front of that one in his fighting stance.

"If you wanna dance, we'll dance", the actor muttered.

The Centaur screamed and rushed forward. The kombatant stopped him in his tracks by a powerful kick into his midsection. As the intruder bent down, momentarily gasping for breath, Johnny followed with a kick to his right front knee. The Centaur screamed in pain and both his right front legs buckled under the impact. The left leg then also bent because it was not enough to sustain the weight of the Centaur's upper body alone. Seeing it, Johnny executed a high roundhouse kick. The back of his ankle met the invader's jaw and knocked that one down on his side. However, the Centaur was far from beaten as he quickly stood back up. Johnny's eyes widened as he saw the intruder sending a left uppercut towards him. The Centaur's fist crashed into the actor's chin and sent him flying backwards, over Pensky. The kombatant landed on his back and swiftly stood back up as, in front of him, Pensky also rose to his feet. The young officer looked up into the Centaur's aggressive eyes as he realized he had dropped the shotgun and it was now out of his reach. He knew the intruder would've been able to decimate him long before he was able to withdraw the reserve weapon that was strapped to his back. As Pensky saw the Centaur swinging a right fist aimed at his head, he heard the actor screaming for behind him.

"Get down!", Johnny ordered.

Without thinking why, Pensky obeyed and dropped to the floor on his stomach, instinctively covering the back of his head. He didn't look up and thus didn't see Johnny executing a flying shadow kick over him and into the Centaur's stomach. The intruder only saw a blurry flash of color shooting from where the actor was standing behind the officer. The color flew over Pensky and slammed hard into invader's stomach, knocking that one backwards. It proved to be an exceptionally powerful flying kick, as it was supposed to, since the Centaur involuntarily staggered backwards. The intruder crashed through the window that was about five yards behind him. His body easily broke the glass and also destroyed part of the wall that surrounded the window. He screamed as he found himself flying through the second-floor wall and felt gravity pulling him down to the street below.

Johnny helped Pensky stand back up after they heard a blunt noise when the Centaur's body impacted with the asphalt on the street. Both men went to the window and looked out of the giant hole that existed where the smaller window had once been. They saw the Centaur galloping away from the station, seemingly unharmed. Feeling shaken up, both men next went back downstairs, forgetting Pensky's shotgun and the fact that they had come up to retrieve flashlights. Once climbing down the staircase, they saw Olsen as he was guarding the Centaur whom he had shot. The detective had the exceptionally powerful shotgun aimed at the head of the Centaur. That one was lying flat on his side, resting his head on the floor in a small pool of blood. He could see and hear everything that happened, but was unable to move as the three men converged.

"Are you guys still in one piece?", Olsen asked as they neared him.

"So far", Pensky replied, getting closer.

All three then looked down quietly at the injured Centaur.

"What should we do with this one?", Pensky broke the silence.

"What do you _think_ we should do?", Olsen answered his question with a question of his own.

Without giving a verbal answer, Pensky reached for and gripped the double-barreled shotgun that the detective had kept aimed at the intruder's head. Olsen released the grip on the weapon when the younger officer pulled it towards him. Pensky then pointed the shotgun into the Centaur's head himself, making sure that one looked up and saw the barrel of the weapon.

"What are those rights we have to read?", the officer asked without looking at the detective or the actor, "You have the right to remain silent and you have the right to remain dead".

With those words, Pensky pulled the trigger of the double-barreled shotgun, executing the injured Centaur before that one could even scream. He handed the weapon back to Olsen after he saw the intruder's forehead explode and that one ceased moving altogether.

"Yeah, I like this job", Pensky grinned as Olsen began reloading the weapon.

"Listen, I think we could use a little rest before we go out", Johnny addressed the detective, "We're all pretty shaken up after what just happened.

He was talking on Pensky's behalf more than his own.

"OK, that's fine", Olsen replied, "You guys relax while I go up. You forgot the flashlights anyway".

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was alone in one of the large rooms of the abandoned warehouse that the team had chosen as their hideout. This room alone was approximately shaped like a square and had numerous crates, both empty ones and full ones that contained nothing useful. All ten soldiers had walked by her home on their way back from the lake. She had advised that it'd be wise to stop there since they could all find clothes that belonged either to her father or to Scott. The drenched Special Forces members were glad to take her advise as she also went in to grab two clips for her trusty Glock and the shoulder holster for it. She knew the weapon wouldn't be worth much against the Centaur invasion force, but she still preferred to have it around. She had also been unsure as to what to wear since her blue jeans and jacket were soaked.

Thus, standing in the room, Sonya was dressed in the neon green sweatpants and halter that Scott had given her back when he had first acquired the clone's body. This was the first time she had the outfit on and it fit quiet nicely with her extra pair of sneakers, although she wasn't thinking about it. At the present time, her thoughts were with her father. She wondered if he was doing allright since she hadn't heard from him ever since the invasion had started. She was still thinking about him and how he was coping at the base in Austin, Texas, as she stared at the Glock and Arol on the table in front of her.

"Wow, you finally put it on", Scott's voice snapped her back to her present location as the ninja neared her from the open doorway.

He was carrying his own Arol by his side as it pointed towards the ground.

"Yeah, and it's comfortable too", she smiled, "I should've known you'd pick the right clothes".

"Well, I'm glad you like it", he added as she turned around and stood in front of him, "Although not as glad as when I saw you in that boat. I didn't even know if you were alive after you went through the window".

"You know what they say", the kombatant replied, "You never know what you're capable of until you're put to the test".

"You realize, though, that this is the first time we've been alone since Rayden knows when", he held a single red rose in front of his face, "This is for the bravest act that the Special Forces has seen in its entire history. Even the colonel was impressed when you swam up to that boat in that infested water even though you could've just left".

"Really", she commented, "He really said he was impressed?".

"Not in so many words, but I could read it on his face", the ninja responded.

"Well, maybe I'll ask him to be sure", she smiled again, "But for now, the rose is enough".

"One thing I can never figure", he went on as she held the offered flower, "How did you know where to find us?".

"I ran into our guy, the one who the Centaur had attacked", she stopped smiling, "He told me where the rest of the team was headed, so I decided to follow. He died with me before I came after you guys".

Scott only sighed.

"Although right now, I wish I had picked up something from home that would've kept me warmer", she added, trying to appear more cheerful, "It's freezing outside and I'm dressed like this".

"Oh, don't worry about that, we're gonna stay here until daybreak", the ninja assured her, "Then we go out and hunt our hunters. The sun should increase the temperature outside to some degree at least. Until then, we're in here".

"Aha", she turned partly around and placed the rose on the table on top of the Glock, "So what was that you wanted to tell me when we were alone?".

She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her face closer to his. The kiss on the lips that followed was the first one in the last several days. She remembered clearly. Scott didn't notice the slight movement from several yards behind him as his attention was still solely on her. Even though Sonya's face was still intimately pressed against his, she noticed the Centaur standing tall behind him out of the corner of her eye. She quickly pulled away from Scott and reached behind her for the Arol as the Centaur charged towards them.

"DUCK!", she pushed Scott's upper body down with her left hand while gripping the Arol with her right.

With the rushing Centaur less than five yards away, she leveled the rocket launcher over Scott's lowered head and pulled the trigger. A shell tore into her target's chest and that one was thrown backwards with a scream. The Centaur staggered several steps behind and fell down on his side, the deep crater in his chest bleeding profusely as he was only moments away from death. Scott stood back up and turned around, astonished at the sight.

"Now _that's_ romance!", Sonya gave him a wide grin as she held on to the weapon she had used.

"What the hell was that shooting?", two soldiers ran up, rocket launchers at the ready.

They both stopped after seeing the corpse of the Centaur as others rushed in behind them.

"How the hell did he get in here without us knowing about it?", the colonel questioned.

"I wish I could tell you", Scott slowly approached the intruder, wanting to verify that he was dead.

The Centaur did not respond when the ninja sent a sharp kick into his head. The test erased any doubts in the human's mind that the invader was, in fact, a carcass. So Scott casually squatted next to the body, examining the head first from only inches away.

"He might've been here before we came in", he told both himself and those behind him who wouldn't get any closer to the body, "Or he might've snuck in after he saw us coming inside".

There was a pause.

"I'd hate to think it was the latter", the ninja added, feeling the Centaur's head with his left fingers, "From what I've seen so far, I haven't detected that these jackasses do anything alone. They always travel in packs, much like fleas, except fleas serve a better purpose in life".

Sonya positioned the shoulder holster with the loaded Glock in it on top of the green halter she wore. The second clip for the pistol was positioned just below it in the holster. As she did, the ninja stood back up and walked towards the troops. All the soldiers as well as the colonel seemed to accept him as their new leader at the present time.

"Is there any way we can use this body for our own advantage?", Scott asked anyone who felt like answering.

"Such as what?", Sonya responded when no one else did.

"I dunno", he shrugged, "In order to defeat one's enemy, one must understand him. So how can we understand them? We could try to spot a weakness they have maybe".

"Well, you're aiming a little too high", one soldier let him know, "None of us here are surgeons. We can't do an autopsy on that thing. We wouldn't even know where to start. I guess we could try carrying that body to the nearest hospital, assuming of course that the hospitals are still open".

Scott was about to mention another idea when one side of the wall collapsed in a loud explosion. All the soldiers turned their weapons towards it as the smoke cleared. Behind the smoke stood a mass of approximately forty Centaurs. They were all flocked together behind a single one.

"Surrender, humans!", the front Centaur aimed at them.

"Motaro, I'm assuming?", Scott asked, almost in a friendly voice.

The Centaur didn't respond, indicating the answer was an affirmative one. Both he and Scott locked eyes, representing two opposing sides in the battle for the Earth realm.

"I guess your idea of sending a spy in here didn't work too good, did it?", the ninja continued, pointing at the body behind him.

Sonya and the others had an Arol aimed at the mass of adversaries as they looked back and forth between Scott and Motaro, waiting for instructions.

"Kill the freaks!", the ninja said in a stern voice as he targeted a Centaur with his own rocket launcher.

"CHARGE!", Motaro pointed at the humans.

The Centaurs behind the leader yelled and rushed forward as Motaro stood his ground. Most of the humans opened fire twice because their Arols were still fully loaded. A Centaur dropped to the ground dead with each discharged shell. Unfortunately, the dead Centaurs were quickly replaced as those behind them gladly stepped on their dead colleagues to get to the humans.

"Retreat!", Scott dropped the empty rocket launcher as the others did the same.

All ten humans rushed out of the door, with the ninja leaving the last and closing the door behind him. His action only delayed the pursuers for one moment because the first Centaur who reached it charged through, knocking down the door and a section of the surrounding wall with it. While in the main warehouse, the human troops headed for the main exit, hoping Motaro wasn't clever enough to have them surrounded. With the Centaurs behind them and gaining, Sonya was at the head of the group of ten retreating soldiers. She stopped running and twisted around, withdrawing the Glock from its holster. Serving as a delaying tactic, she aimed the handgun at the trailing Centaurs, pulling the trigger with enthusiasm and waving the weapon back and forth to cover all the hunters.

All twenty bullets only stopped the first three Centaurs for a split second as those felt a minor itching sensation where they had been hit. The forward charge of the intruders behind those three then propelled them to keep rushing ahead. With the other soldiers using every bit of time they were given to run past her and exit the warehouse, Sonya holstered the empty weapon, turned around and caught up with them. She was the last human out of the warehouse along with Scott as they thankfully realized that Motaro had not positioned guards at the main entrance. The chief Centaur had assumed, mistakenly again, that the humans could not escape and thus hadn't prepared for it.

The high and untidy grass outside the warehouse proved to be helpful as the soldiers rushed into it, heading towards separate directions. The darkness from the night sky hampered the Centaurs' efforts to track their preys down effectively. Scott proceeded ahead as he had lowered himself in a semi-squatted position so as to not stand out past the level of the grass. He was trying to get as far away from the warehouse as possible, although he didn't know what his immediate destination would be. The ninja could see the outline of two Centaurs about twenty yards away as those were combing the area in search of humans. He would've liked nothing better than to charge into them and fly kick the first one he saw, but he knew such action would prove futile. Qarro was a match for him back in Outworld and he was currently looking at two opponents, not just one.

The ninja was hoping all his men had gotten out alive as he heard steps from behind him. His initial reaction told him that the steps were too light to belong to a Centaur, but not wanting to leave anything to chance, he turned around, ready for the worst. The next sight he saw was Sonya rushing towards him. She only stopped after they had already collided. Scott held his right index finger over his lips, indicating they needed to be quiet. Sonya, in her own turn, was hoping that the Centaurs did not possess extraordinary eyes such as those belonging to a cat. The two Centaurs found twenty yards away were only increasing the distance between them and the humans during the search. Thus, it told her the hunters' eyes were just as helpless as a human's in the dark.

Scott and Sonya heard a Centaur screaming out. The two invaders who were searching for them next gave up on the mission and galloped towards the source of the call. Stopping only about fifty yards away from their original spot, the two Centaurs met with a gathering of the other students as they saw Motaro with his hands wrapped around a human. Standing up, Scott had been prompted to run after the two Centaurs who were called and Sonya was only a few short steps behind him. Stopping to look up, both humans saw that the prize Motaro was holding up was a Special Forces soldier. The Centaurs' leader had proudly raised the adult human male over his head, as if showing off to his students. Scott had guessed that theman could not have been more than twenty years old, though he didn't recognize him personally. With over a dozen of his surrounding students watching and cheering, Motaro gripped the scaredhuman by the neck and by the waistline. The man only had enough time to sob for a few moments.

"No! He's not!", Scott tried to rush ahead before Sonya restrained him from behind.

"Don't! It'd be suicide!", she whispered in as loud a tone as she could.

The next scene they both saw was Motaro pulling his raised arms apart, and with it tearing the victim's body into two. His crying stopped as the chief Centaur dropped his remains on the ground. The students cheered louder as Scott felt like he was about to go out of his mind. The ninja was frozen while he kept staring at the body of the youngster as it was next trampled since the Centaurs danced briefly, rising on their hind legs and crashing their front legs on the ground. Apparently not caring about the consequences, Scott slowly marched forward, this time more carefully, as he planned to simply afflict as much damage as he could. Sonya had more control over her thoughts and was responding less emotionally as she grabbed his right upper arm from behind, restricting any further movement.

"No, no!", she kept whispering out loud, "Scott, we can't attack. There's too many of them, it'd be suicide!".

The ninja resisted her constraint.

"We'll get them. But later, not now", she promised, "Come on, come on".

Scott gave up on his forward pull and followed her as she headed away from the group of Centaurs.

"He's dead... He's dead... He's dead", the ninja kept repeating about Motaro as they left.

They soon reached the end of the area covered with high grass, thus believing they were temporarily out of danger. The thought turned out to be false because Sonya found herself looking up into the eyes of a Centaur just as she exited the tall grass. Not all of Motaro's students had left to watch the execution of a human. With Scott right behind her and still unable to see the invader, the Centaur twisted to his left before swinging his right arm. The back of his right fist collided into Sonya's face and sent her flying towards her left before she crashed five yards away, the grass softening her impact with the ground. Seeing what happened, Scott rushed forward, screaming and intending to deliver a kick into the aggressor's stomach. Before he reached that one, though, the Centaur sent an uppercut into the ninja's chin, sending him flying backwards. Scott landed hard on his upper back. The Centaur was upon him before the ninja could get back up. Gripping his front collar, the invader single-handedly lifted him off the ground while he was still dazed from the exceptionally powerful blow. The Centaur next punched Scott in the face with his free hand, snapping the ninja's head to the side as that one was clearly helpless against him. Scott's vision blurred as he felt a second, similar punch crashing into his jaw while he was still held in the air.

The Centaur would've destroyed the ninja right there, except Sonya had stood up tall at the spot where she had landed. Seeing the punishment that one was delivering into the ninja, she quickly withdrew the Glock from her shoulder holster and proceeded to load it with the last clip. Once full, she didn't think about the consequences as aimed the handgun at the Centaur. She only wanted to stop him from hurting Scott.

"HEY, FOUR-LEGS!", she yelled out.

The Centaur turned his face towards her as he still held the defeated ninja in the air with one hand. Before he knew what was going on, Sonya opened fire. Six bullets hit the Centaur in his lower, horse-like, body. He growled angrily at the contempt the second human was showing him. Thus, he released his grip on Scott and the ninja fell back on the ground. The human lay on his back, having just realized he had heard Sonya's voice. Scott then reasoned that the Centaur had abandoned him to go after her. He sat up with difficulty and pushed the grass ahead of him down with his hands. He then knew that he was right because he saw Sonya running away into the grassy area as fast as she could with the Centaur on her trail.

"Sonya! Noo!", the ninja moaned, a headache overwhelming him.

He heard other Centaurs heading towards his direction. Knowing he could not stay there any longer, Scott stood back up and staggered away, his vision still troubling him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was running as fast as her legs could afford, still holding on to the pistol in her right grip because she had not stopped to holster it as she saw the Centaur charging towards her. Panting, she finally cleared the grassy area with the colossal Centaur only yards behind and began dashing on solid concrete. She did not look back as she only heard her own breathing and the loud gallop that was initiated once her pursuer's four legs met the concrete also.

The kombatant rushed ahead, her feet only meeting the ground for a fraction of a second as she set her entire concentration on speed. She only aimed at running in a straight line, thus not risking slowing down in order to turn curves because she knew her predator was probably gaining on her. Thus, she felt relieved when she saw the lights of a residential area about two hundred yards ahead. Still ignoring the exhaustion that threatened to overtake her at any moment, Sonya sprinted towards it using every last bit of energy she possessed. It might have been possible to lose the Centaur in the darkness under other circumstances, but her neon green outfit and blonde hair made her stand out. Therefore, the Centaur had no problem distinguishing her as he came ever closer, the gap between him and the human lessening with every passing moment.

He was a mere ten yards behind when she finally reached the first house in the residential area. Sonya ran in a straight line parallel to the establishment and then turned a sharp left as she came to the end of the first residence. She bolted by the left side of the house as the Centaur skidded forward for a few yards in the straight line he was following before coming to a complete halt. Annoyed, he then retracted his steps and picked up the chase again, this time from twenty yards behind. He told himself that the long chase would make the kill all the more satisfactory as he set his eyes on the green and blond target ahead.

Resuming her run along the side of the row of homes, Sonya heard the pursuer commencing his gallop as he turned to the left also. She knew she was running out of momentum, so she tried to think of a way to get herself out of the predicament. Before she was able to ponder about it long, someone abruptly opened the door of the home about fifteen steps ahead of her.

"In here!", the person signaled from behind the partly opened doorway.

Although he was a total stranger, Sonya found it comforting enough since he was a fellow human being. Not desiring to face off against the Centaur outside, she reacted by instinct and bolted into the doorway. The person then quickly locked the door behind her. Panting, Sonya rested her upper back against the locked door as she remained standing. She then turned her face partly to the left to see that the person who had offered her the sanctuary was a young man, probably younger than her brother had been at the time of his death.

"Who're you?", she posed the obvious question as her panting slowed down.

"Name's Chris", the young man responded.

"Thank you, Chris. I'm Sonya", she let him know, "I'm sure you probably saved my life just now".

"Any time", he replied.

Without another word, Sonya lifted the Glock she held in her right grip, making sure the safety device was off.

"What are you doing?", Chris asked, feeling nervous at the sight of the weapon.

"He's not gonna stop", she replied, meaning the Centaur, "I think he'll come in here after me. And when he does, I need to use you as bait".

Chris's eyes widened at the thought as his doubts about helping a total stranger became stronger.

"What?", he asked.

"That's the only way I'll get to kill him", she calmly explained, "There's no other way. Don't worry, you'll be safer than _I_ am".

"Well, wadda you planning?", the youth questioned.

"I'm going to find out how tough this tough guy really is", she gave a slight smile, "That is, if you will help me".

Her prediction about the Centaur not giving up on the chase proved to be true. Realizing that the human had disappeared into the place of residence, he faced the home from outside. He stood his ground for a few seconds, deciding the most effective way to charge through its walls. Having picked it, the Centaur rushed forward. His lowered head impacted his horns into the door and broke it down as if it hadn't even been bolted to the wall. Pieces of concrete and wood also flew apart as the pursuer was clearly too big to fit through the doorway. Leaving an eight-foot tall crater where the door used to be, the Centaur stepped inside. The inside of the dwelling was well lit, especially when compared to outside. Thus, the Centaur immediately saw the terrified human whose back was pressed against the opposite side of the room. Examining the prey told the pursuer that it wasn't the one he'd been chasing all the way from the warehouse. He easily noticed that this one was not wearing green and didn't have long blonde hair.

"Where is the human?", the Centaur demanded as he stepped towards the lone occupant.

That one didn't respond, he only remained speechless and scared.

"Right here, four-legs", the Centaur heard from behind him and to right.

Before he could turn around, Sonya rushed forward and jumped on his back as if she was riding a horse. Thankful that she did not slip as she climbed on his lower, horse-like body, the kombatant quickly reached forward until she was just behind his upper, human-like torso. She wrapped her right arm around his neck as that one realized he had just been ambushed and raised his arms backwards to try to reach her. Before he could, Sonya pressed the muzzle of the Glock hard against the side of his head, just below the horn, with her left hand.

The kombatant pulled the trigger repeatedly as fast as she could, making sure she kept the weapon pushed against the spot on his head so her left hand would not tremble. She emptied the clip, sending all fourteen bullets into the same area in her adversary's head. Feeling the impact of the 9mm rounds one after the other, the Centaur froze in pain and his eyes instinctively closed as he pressed his teeth together. When Sonya's handgun was finally empty, she held her right arm wrapped around his neck, not knowing the result. The Centaur only stood his ground, immobile, as she heard her own breathing and saw Chris staring at the invader with the same frozen look. After a few nervous seconds like that, she felt the Centaur slowly leaning towards the left. It was only after she saw the right side of the floor racing towards her that Sonya realized he was dead and was dropping down on his left side.

She shrieked as she pulled her legs up and tried to jump off his back, but then felt the hard impact against the floor as the Centaur's lifeless body crashed on it. After remaining still for two more seconds, Chris reacted and rushed over to help her up to her feet. Moaning slightly, Sonya gripped that one's shoulder and stood back up, thankful she was unhurt. Examining the Centaur's carcass, she noticed how strong the invader's exterior truly was. Even though a single 9mm bullet would've gone clean through a human head from such close range, fourteen consecutive bullets together had not exited from the right side of the Centaur's head. However, the result was still that he was dead and they both sighed because that was all that mattered. Another person appeared from within the home, this one another young man about the same age as Chris's.

"What the fff...", that one saw the Centaur's cadaver and stopped, placing his right palm on his mouth, "Oh my God!".

"It's OK", Sonya reassured him, "He's dead".

"My God", that one repeated.

"This is Ray", Chris pointed to the new person while his eyes were still on the intruder, wanting to be absolutely sure of that one's death.

"You take _one_ short nap and this is what happens!", Ray exclaimed as the chilly outside air overtook the inside of the residence, "Didn't I tell you to wake me up if you heard anything?".

"Please, it's over", Chris replied, staring next at the large void in the wall.

"And who the hell are you?", Ray looked at Sonya.

"Sonya Blade, U.S. Army Special Forces", she told him, having never lost the rhythm of that phrase even after she had been kicked out of the military.

"Believe me, Ray, she's on our side", Chris grinned for the first time.

"Yeah, Ray", she added.

"Actually, it's short for Reymond. We just call him Ray", Chris pointed out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya was seated on the ground on Chris's left side in the room farthest away from the crater the Centaur had created. With Ray seated on Chris's right side, they had closed the door, so the cold air was lessened to a great deal because of it. Listening intently, they could only hear the noise of crickets and an occasional small bird outside, nothing more. The kombatant had already dropped the empty Glock on the floor and was busy removing the shoulder holster as she debated her next move.

"So, you guys own this place?", she tried to keep them talking, reasoning that they would be less likely to be scared if their minds were momentarily elsewhere.

"Nah, it belongs to my parents", Chris pointed out, "Ray doesn't live here. We just know him from the neighborhood. He came here a few hours ago after those things began showing up".

"And where are your parents?", Sonya asked.

"I don't know", the youngster told her, "They were gone all afternoon".

Chris sighed and so did she as Ray looked on.

"The last thing I told them both was 'drop dead, you pricks'", Chris chuckled, trying not to appear worried.

Sonya only stared at him, wondering how emotionally stable he'd try to appear.

"They'll be back, though", Chris continued, staring ahead, "I know they will. They wouldn't give me the pleasure of leaving me alone".

The kombatant rested her right hand on his left shoulder.

"You don't have to pretend to be made out of steel, Chris", she whispered.

"Who's pretending?", he chuckled again, "It'll be the best thing in the world if they didn't come back".

He kept staring ahead as both Sonya and Ray looked at him. It didn't take Chris long to quietly break down into tears as he arched his face downwards.

"Yeah, the best", he repeated, sobbing and with his face resting on his right forearm.

Sonya wrapped her right arm around his upper back, doing her best to console the person who had saved her life.

"I know what you're going through", she whispered as she looked at him, lowering her face so it was next to his, "I don't know what happened to my father, either, or to my friends at that".

She patted him gently on the back several times before she lifted her face up and saw Ray as that one was sitting up straight. He noticed her eyes on him.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine", he spoke up as Chris dried his tears, "It's one of the positive results of not having anybody and living alone".

"So what the blazes do these horses even want?", Chris pulled his face up and turned to her, reasoning that someone in the military might've known more than him or his friend.

"They're called Centaurs", she let him know as she withdrew her right arm, "They're from... somewhere else. As far as I can tell, they want us, _all_ of us, maybe as slaves, maybe as just dead bodies because we're in their way. I don't really know".

There was a brief silence.

"How did they even get here?", Ray asked in his own turn.

"Don't know", she shook her head.

Sonya then stood up, both other individuals raising their faces as they saw her rising to her feet.

"What I _do_ know is that some of us are still out there", she informed them, "Some are trying to put up a fight, and I have to rejoin them".

"Now?", Chris didn't want her to leave.

It was the first human contact he had ever since Ray had rushed to his home several hours ago, screaming that horses were massacring everyone.

"I have to find my friends, assuming they're still alive", the kombatant explained, "The sooner I find them, the better".

"But wait until morning", Chris suggested as he stood also, "It'll be light then. We can help you look for these army guys".

Sonya appreciated the thought of them wanting to help and she felt a desire to keep an eye on both youngsters to make sure they weren't harmed as time went on.

"I'm heading into the middle of a battleground", she had to refuse, "Bringing you guys along is the best way to get you killed".

Chris opened his mouth to protest, but she interrupted.

"Listen, guys", she whispered, "The best chance you have to survive this thing is to find a place where you can hide out until it's over. This house is a pretty good place, I think. The Centaurs are still busy trying to hunt down the warrior class instead of going after hidden civilians".

Chris sighed.

"I'll come by as regularly as I can to check up on you two, to see if there's anything you need", she reassured, "But I just don't want you around me when the shooting starts. You understand?".

"Yeah, sure", Chris did understand, although he hated to admit it.

"Look, I'll be back during daybreak when I can", she promised as she was about to head for the door that separated this room from the rest of the residence, "I'll get the address of this place on my way out".

"It's 367 Fillmore Drive", Ray pointed out, wanting to save her the trouble of having to distinguish numbers and the street name in the dark.

"I'll remember that", she smiled as she turned towards the door.

"Come back when you can, OK?", Chris didn't like to see her leave, "We'll be waiting".

As Sonya was about to take her next step towards the closed door, she heard a earsplitting bang half a second before she saw a Centaur break into the room. Her heart raced as adrenaline shot through her. The intruder growled at the three humans as Ray stood up, shocked. Sonya and Chris pulled him with them as they retreated deeper into the room and away from the door. The Centaur was obviously displeased at seeing another one of his kind lying dead just a few steps outside the room. Not knowing and not caring how someone his size had managed to sneak up towards them without being heard, Sonya knew she had to protect the youngsters. The kombatant swiftly grabbed each individual's back collar with one hand and pulled them behind her. The next thing both humans behind her and the Centaur heard was Sonya screaming.

"YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", she flew towards the monster with her right leg extended ahead of her torso.

Her right foot slammed into the Centaur's stomach and that one staggered back into the near wall behind him. Unhurt, he then swung with his right fist, aiming for the female human's head. Sonya pulled her upper body backwards and wrapped both her arms around his wrist. Seeing his strike had failed, the Centaur pulled his arm back, and Sonya staggered a step forward with it.

"RUN! GO!", she momentarily turned to the youngsters.

That was all she got to say because the Centaur swung his right forearm backwards and to the right, slamming it and her together into the wall behind him. The back of her head impacted with the concrete before she saw Chris and Ray reluctantly heading for the larger hole in the doorway. Once there, both youngsters stopped and tried, in their own way, to deliver some kind of an offensive against the intruder. The action proved deadly because the Centaur kicked Sonya in the stomach without even feeling the punches and kicks that the youths threw at him. The kombatant dropped on the floor, tasting blood in her mouth. With her out of the way, the invader sent the back of his left knuckles into Ray's face and punched Chris in the stomach with his right fist. Ray staggered back into the room before falling on the floor on his stomach. Chris, on the other hand, was thrown into the air outside of the room and landed on his back.

Before either of the three humans recovered, the Centaur charged towards Ray and lifted himself up on his hind legs. While still on the floor, Sonya saw the intruder as the front part of his body came back towards the floor. She heard herself screaming as she saw his front legs crushing Ray under them. That one was killed instantly without a sound as she forced herself back on her feet and rushed ahead, tackling the Centaur's upper body. The invader barely felt it as she next saw Chris barely standing up from outside the room.

"RUN, CHRIS! GET OUT!", she warned him again.

The youth fortunately did as she advised and turned around, running out of his home. In the meanwhile, Sonya was lifted into the air as the Centaur grabbed her by her upper arms and tossed her clear across the room. The human flew about five yards before crashing into a wall again. She then dropped towards the floor on her side. Common sense would've told her to execute another flying kick for a response as soon as she was able to, but she wasn't thinking rationally at the moment. Seeing Ray's broken body was enough to knock her senses away, at least momentarily. She stood up and angrily charged back into the Centaur, desiring to tackle him. Her impact into him didn't even force him to move an inch backwards. Her opponent then easily pushed her away from him, but only with enough strength to have her stagger a single step backwards. He then used that position to punch her in the head. Sonya was knocked down on her side under the powerful blow.

Once on the floor, she turned on her stomach. The human raised her upper body on her hands and knees in an effort to stand. Before she was able to, however, she didn't even see the Centaur as that one delivered a paralyzing kick into her midsection. The only sound she uttered was a gasp since the sudden pain hampered any other response. Sonya's entire body was pushed upward into the air as she involuntarily spit blood out of her mouth. She then fell back down on the floor, lying completely flat on the carpeted surface of the room. With barely any strength left, she pulled her head up in time to see the Centaur intertwining the fingers of both his hands together and then raising the joined hands over his head. She realized that he was getting ready to deliver a death blow since he had seen her helpless and defeated. Anger shot through Sonya as she saw the joined hands being held menacingly over her. Moaning out of hatred for her enemy, she ignored the awesome pain in her entire body and forced herself to roll as far away from the Centaur as possible. His united hands slammed into the floor only inches next to her head.

Disappointed that she had evaded him, the Centaur pulled his hands apart just as he saw the kombatant standing up. He was about to swing again when she twisted to her left and kicked him in the front knee with her right leg. The blow knocked his concentration out as he was surprised the human was able to keep on fighting after the punishment he had inflicted on her. Having done that, she followed it with a swift and astonishingly strong punch into his stomach. The Centaur bent down, though the wind was knocked out of him for only a moment. Seeing the result, Sonya bolted past Ray's body and then out of the room. She could hear her adversary laughing as she ran past the first Centaur's body and out of the residence. She realized he wasn't even trying to chase her as she staggered out of the crater in the wall and almost lost her balance trying to run in the total darkness. With her throat feeling as if it was being strangled from within and still occasionally coughing blood, she collided into a parked car that she hadn't seen. The kombatant then pulled herself away from the vehicle and slowed down to a fast walk since the Centaur didn't even think she was worth the trouble of chasing after. She felt the cold wind attacking her flesh as she proceeded towards an unknown destination.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya found herself walking warily down an unknown street, the darkness keeping her from even being able to read the street name. She was passing through the entrance of an alleyway, looking out for any signs of life, both humans' and Centaurs', as she surveyed the surrounding homes. All the lights were turned off, as they should've been in order to divert unwanted attention. Her eyes were still on the dark and quiet places of residence when an abrupt sound deep from within the alleyway caught her attention. She instantly twisted her head towards the origin of the noise, her eyes already having gotten used to the darkness. An empty bottle rolled slowly on the ground next to two large, steel dumpsters about thirty yards ahead in the alleyway. Immobile, she could feel herself becoming more tense as she readied for whoever or whatever might've followed. To her delightful surprise, she next saw a medium-sized street cat showing itself from behind a hiding spot and staring back at her. Sonya smiled without even realizing it as she bent down slightly and tapped her shin with her right hand.

"Hey, kitty", she whispered in a loud manner, "Come here, kitty".

The cat only stood its ground, not moving towards her but not moving away either. The kombatant stood back up straight and approached it, slowly at first since she didn't want to scare it away. Once she realized that the feline did not turn to run, she shifted into a regular walk into the alleyway until she reached the spot where it stood. The cat purred quietly as it rubbed its side against her ankle.

"Don't be afraid", she whispered as she bent down and began caressing its back.

The cat obviously liked what she did, so she carefully sat down on the ground, mindful to keep the beginning of the alley on her right side so she could keep her eye on it. The cat jumped on her lap and purred louder as she fondled its head and stomach. Sonya only stared ahead as the cat enjoyed the massage. She was wondering about how she would find any of her friends and fellow fighters, as well as thinking about the chances that her side had of winning. Scott had informed her that the entire invasion force would've been repelled if a human beat Motaro in a fair fight. However, Sonya wasn't talented enough to achieve such a feat and she doubted that any of her other fellow kombatants were either. Her mind was still on that subject when the cat suddenly stopped purring and turned its face towards the entrance of the alleyway. Noticing its reaction, Sonya did the same, feeling worried. She saw nothing as the cat then turned to her and hissed.

"What?", she asked.

The feline's only response was to claw at her left wrist, breaking the skin. It then jumped out of her lap and ran deeper into the alley, vanishing in the darkness. It was only then that Sonya heard the steady gallop of a Centaur as that one was nearing the only entrance of the alley. She quickly stood up and faced the opening thirty yards away that she had used to come into the alleyway. Thoughts and options raced through her mind as she considered what she should do. As the Centaur was about to appear at the entrance, her fear overpowered her desire to challenge him and she hurried towards the nearby dumpster. She flattened her head and upper body against the side of the dumpster that was opposite to the entrance as she kept her eyes closed. The kombatant was feeling scared as she could hear her own heart beating in her chest. She found herself breathing hard and thus tried to calm down as the Centaur was examining the inside of the alley from the entrance.

Sonya kept still for several moments before the Centaur was convinced the area was unoccupied and moved on. Hearing him gallop slowly away, she ventured her head out of the side of her hideout and peeked towards the entrance. Finding it void, she reasoned it was safe to leave.

Exiting the alley, she kept walking for about two hundred yards more, always hoping to see some sign of soldiers from the military. She found none, but spotted a light about a block away. The light was small, so she immediately realized that it wasn't someone's home on fire. Curious, hopeful and wary all at the same time, she proceeded towards it with the chilly night wind hitting against her bare stomach and arms. Sonya could see that it was the only light source around since everyone was trying to stay as quiet and as invisible as possible. Nearing it, she saw it was a burning trashcan with three men standing around it and keeping warm. One of the men noticed her approaching first.

"Hey, man, check out the chick", he elbowed at the person next to him as the kombatant came close.

"Don't you guys know what's going on out here?", Sonya pointed behind her.

"What?", the second man asked, "Is there a parade I dunno about?".

She saw that two out of three men were smoking marijuana. She could quickly recognize the smell from her days in the military when she was being trained to be accepted into an anti-drug cartel task force. That dream had fallen short of being recognized, but the training had remained with her.

"You cold?" the same man questioned without waiting for her to respond, "You wanna stick by the fire?".

"Well, it couldn't hurt", she smiled.

"I guess you can", the man said, "But you gotta do something for us first".

The smile quickly faded from Sonya's face as her muscles tensed, getting ready to get into her fighting stance because she expected them to be aggressive. The man who had spoken last must've noticed the change in her facial and bodily expression.

"Relax, babe", he laughed, "I just meant we gotta know your name first".

"Oh", she smiled again as she exhaled, more at ease, "It's lieutenant Sonya Blade, US Army Special Forces".

"Wow", the third man spoke up, "Fancy title".

Just as that one finished making his statement, Sonya's eyes spotted a Centaur approaching the four of them from the direction she was facing.

"Guys, we gotta get outta here", she quickly advised in a fidgety voice.

None of the three men seemed to even hear her as the lone Centaur came closer.

"Guy, we gotta get outta here", she desperately gripped the arm of the man closest to her and tried to pull, "COME ON!".

However, those three were still staring into the fire they had built and refused to be forced away. As the Centaur was within fifteen steps and still approaching, Sonya turned to the men instead of turning around and running away alone.

"You wouldn't happen to have a gun around here, would you, by any chance?", she asked the small group.

The first man handed her a .357 magnum revolver with a six-bullet cylinder without even asking her why she wanted it. Seeing the four apparently defiant humans, the Centaur decided to destroy them together. He charged forward as she was undoing the safety mechanism on the weapon. The Centaur grabbed the third man, knocking the burning trashcan on its side as the three men finally realized that something was wrong. Sonya stood her ground and aimed the revolver upward at arm's length in front of her face as the Centaur took several steps backwards with the protesting man still in his hands.

"PUT HIM DOWN! I MEAN NOW!", she aimed the revolver at the Centaur's head.

She fired four times into that one's face, with no visible effects. In response, the Centaur lifted the man above his own head and angrily threw that one down on the ground. The man stopped moving as his body lay limp on the ground. Seeing it, the first two men finally retreated from the scene in a panic. Sonya next saw the Centaur rising up on his hind legs, ready to crush the third man under his front legs as he came back down. She kept the revolver aimed at his head and pulled the trigger two more times. A fifth bullet fired from the weapon, but the handgun only clicked as she pulled it for the sixth time. Even though the revolver had room for six bullets, this one was only carrying five. Unfortunately, the five available rounds didn't seem to damage her opponent at all since that one came back down on his front legs, killing the third man if he wasn't dead already.

The Centaur next stepped away from the human's carcass as Sonya lowered the empty revolver. They locked eyes as the invader grinned menacingly. She could not tell for sure if he was the same one who had killed Ray back in Chris's home. The kombatant next flinched involuntarily as the Centaur kicked the burning trashcan for no apparent reason. She told herself that perhaps he was trying to frighten her. She released her grip on the weapon since it was of no use presently and it fell on the ground. She then switched to her fighting stance, her eyes still locked with her opponent's as his grin did not fade. Fortunately for her, the Centaur only turned and began galloping away. She lowered her arms by her side and eased out of the stance, wondering why he was leaving without finishing the job.

"What?", she actually began following him, "You want to keep me around to torture me, is that it?".

The Centaur only proceeded forward and ignored her as she ran ahead and caught up with him.

"Don't ignore me, you son of a bitch!", she snapped, making sure he could hear, "If you want a fight, then you fight. Don't dance around me like that!".

"I don't _have_ to torture you", the Centaur's head partly turned to face her as he was still smiling, "You're doing a fine job at that all by yourself".

Sonya stopped as he kept galloping away. She watched him go ahead for about fifty yards. Then, without fully knowing why, she went ahead and began to follow him from afar, trying to be quiet so she wouldn't be noticed.

With the full moon finally being allowed to shine after the clouds cleared from between it and the earth, Sonya was able to see more. She stalked the Centaur for approximately a mile before that one finally stopped at a newly-erected compound. It was a large and open area, roughly in the shape of a square with each side being about six hundred yards long. It was also surrounded with a fence that was almost twice her own height. Looking up, she could see the light from the moon sparkling the top of the fence, indicating there were blades attached to the fence. She followed the trail of small knives from the top of the fence downward until she was staring ahead again. The kombatant realized that the entire fence was covered with razor-sharp knives sticking out every two inches or so. The only reason she wasn't originally able to see the ones that were in front of her face was because the moonlight only shone on the top ones while the rest were left in the shadows.

Inside the closed-off compound, she could see scores of Centaurs as they intently listened to a speech in an unknown language that one invader was giving. From the speaker's voice, she could remember that he sounded just like Motaro from when the head Centaur had broken into the warehouse where the ten soldiers were. The Centaurs cheered after Motaro had finished with his lecture. Curious as to what was being said but realizing that she'd never find out, the kombatant proceeded along the fence in a squatted position so as to decrease her odds of being spotted. Getting about fifty yards away, she soon noticed a pile of Arols and AK-47's left lying on the ground just outside the fortified fence. Unable to resist, she approached the accumulation of weapons, wondering why the Centaurs hadn't destroyed them or at least hidden them inside the fence. She didn't have to wonder long because the Centaur whom she had followed here wrapped one of his hands around her neck. He had somehow snuck up from behind her without being heard, much like in Chris's home. Sonya gasped as she gripped his wrist. He then smoothly pushed her upper body back and downward until she was lying horizontally on the ground on her back.

"I could break your neck right now", the Centaur growled, looking down into her eyes.

"So why don't you?", Sonya barely replied since his single hand on her neck effectively stopped her supply of air.

"I'd rather not", he said as he released the grip on her neck and allowed her to breath again.

The kombatant tried to sit up only to have him raise his right front leg and roughly push her back down on the ground with it.

"We know we're going to win", he continued, grinning, "So we'll keep some of you brave and stupid ones alive. You're fun to watch. It is good entertainment as you continue trying to find a solution for the problem that cannot be solved. That is why I insisted we leave your precious weapons out here, because you proved to be more interesting when you think you have a chance".

With that, the Centaur gripped the collar of her halter with his left hand and pulled her up to a seated position. Before she knew it, he slapped her in the face with his right hand. The blow was meant to humiliate more than it was meant to hurt, but her upper body crashed back into the ground face-first nonetheless. Sonya placed both palms on the cold earth and pulled her face away from it, watching as the Centaur proudly walked back to the others like him inside the fence.

"Do not keep us waiting", he teased as he went further.

The kombatant stood up and began digging into the pile of weapons. Most of the Arols and AK-47's proved to be empty and she was getting angered because of it when she finally spotted one AK-47 with an almost-full clip. Knowing she wouldn't be able to do much good at that area, she hurried back towards where she had come from, feeling more resolute. She told herself that if the Centaurs wanted to win, they were going to have to kill her first. As long as she was alive, the fight wasn't lost.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The elderly man was in his apartment building as he peeked outside his room for the first time in hours. The screams of the panicked crowd had now vanished and he was sure the building was empty. He didn't know exactly why he was stepping outside his fourth-story door. Perhaps not knowing for sure what was taking place outside was beginning to bother him, even if risking a look outside might've meant putting his life on the line. He stared down the empty hallway, the light bulbs on the ceiling lighting up the path. He saw and heard nothing as he stayed immobile for several moments, desiring to pick up the slightest sound. Assuming that every other person in the building had evacuated, the man decided to explore further and actually go to the other floors. He was about to proceed down the empty hallway when the shadow of a Centaur appeared next to him. The man gasped as he recognized the shadow of the horns next to his feet, indicating the Centaur was standing behind him. He turned around to see the glaring eyes of an eight-foot tall Centaur looking grimly down into his face.

Having found a survivor in the supposedly vacant building, the Centaur gripped the man's collar and tossed him back into his apartment. The elderly man crashed through the door, which was fortunately not closed, and he landed on his back on the carpeted floor. He tried to stand up and failed. The Centaur lowered his upper body before squeezing himself through the doorway. The invader took a step towards the human, desiring to finish off his task as part of the extermination squad.

"Please, please don't", the man begged as he crawled away from the approaching monster.

The Centaur would not listen to his victim's pleas, as he was trained for years not to do. As he planned to pick the man up in order to deliver a death blow, which would've been easy considering this human didn't appear to be strong anyway, the Centaur heard a click. Automatic gunfire erupted from the open doorway and approximately fifteen rounds hit the invader in the back. The Centaur turned around and faced the direction that the bullets had originated from. Once turned around, the gunfire erupted again and he was hit several more times in the chest by someone whom the elderly man could not see. Slightly hurt and thinking an army of armed humans had found him, the Centaur decided to retreat. He swiftly jumped out through the wall and the elderly man heard him crashing into the street four floors below before he galloped away.

Stunned and still on the floor, the man saw a young lady with blonde hair and in a light green outfit stepping through the open doorway. She held an AK-47 in her right hand as her upper arm was bent at the elbow so that the weapon was kept aimed towards the ceiling. His savior stopped three steps in front of him and scanned the room for any more trouble. She didn't utter a single word as she kept a tough and pressed jaw, indicating she was expected more challenges in the apartment, but there were none. The man first noticed her sharp eyes and then how the tight green halter hugged her slim and muscular upper body. After what she did, he would've thought she was an angel, but the AK-47 she carried and the scar on her left cheek told him she was human. After a few seconds, seeing that he was unhurt, she turned around and walked back out, still without uttering a word.

Once outside the apartment building, Sonya realized that she should've asked the man if he had a jacket in his apartment. She could've gone back inside, but decided not to because she wanted to find partners without any more delays. She began feeling drops of cold water hitting her face from above. Looking up, she realized it had begun to rain. Sighing, she kept her attention fixed around her, knowing she was almost out of ammunition.

The first sound she heard was to her left. She twisted to that side, aiming the weapon with both hands at whatever she saw. To her relief, the AK-47 turned out to be aimed at a human male dressed in a loose T-shirt, perhaps the same age as her. She bent her right elbow and pointed the firearm towards the sky as the person had already raised his hands, reassuring her that he wasn't a threat.

"Hi", Sonya smiled.

"Hi", he replied, lowering his hands.

"I'm Sonya", she approached him.

"Frederick", he introduced himself.

Sonya and the new person she met had taken temporary refuge from the cold drizzle as they stood under a makeshift roof which had no walls around it. She had her AK-47 at the ready as always as she tried to examine her surrounding. Seeing mostly darkness and little else while she only heard the rain, she sighed.

"You're cold, aren't you?", Frederick broke the silence first.

"No kidding", she turned to him only for a split second, not wanting to be caught unprepared, "It's only freezing out here".

"I would give you something heavier to wear, except I don't have any", he replied.

"That's fine, thanks anyway", she told him.

"You hungry?", was his next question, always staring at her as if he wasn't worried about the Centaurs at all.

Sonya turned her face towards him for a handful of seconds this time.

"You got food?", she hadn't eaten for the last eighteen hours.

She quickly turned her attention back to her surroundings, telling herself that her comfort was not as important as keeping an eye out for enemy. She had been trained to go for as long as two days without eating once while in training, but that did not mean she enjoyed having to repeat the experience. Still, she forced herself to concentrate elsewhere.

"A bit", Frederick responded as he reached into his pants pocket, "Had three sandwiches on me at work when all hell broke loose. I'm glad I took them with me when I left that place".

She had her attention turned back towards the night air as he withdrew three wrapped sandwiches, as he had stated. Sonya thought to herself that those must've been a pair of very deep pockets.

"We could share if you'd like one", he offered, "I'd rather save the third for later".

"You'd share with me?", she turned to him again, being able to smile slightly as the gesture.

"Sure", he chuckled, "We have to take care of our own, don't we? Have a seat".

Frederick was seated on the ground first. She had to clear away pieces of metal away from her feet before being able to relax also.

"They're a bunch of stuff from the construction project that was taking place here", Frederick explained, meaning the metal on the ground, "It's mostly nuts, bolts and nails. Just make sure you're not barefoot when you walk around because it's all over the place. Otherwise you should be fine".

He handed her one of the three sandwiches as he bit into another one himself.

"Thanks a lot", she replied as she took what looked like a three-course meal at that moment.

She finally leaned the AK-47 against one of the four wooden columns that held the roof up.

"They used to draw plans here", he pointed towards the spot where they were both seated, "Had a lot of paper coming in and out about how the construction project should go on".

"I'd give just about anything to hear some loud machine going off right now", she told him with her mouth full since she had already taken a large bite, "Just anything to tell me everything was OK and that people were back to the routine lives of going to work and coming home and complaining about it".

"Yeah", he agreed, looking at her weapon, "Is that thing any good?".

"It has very limited effects", she stared at the AK-47 also, "But I guess it's better than nothing. But it's also almost empty right now. I sent quiet a few rounds into some jackass before I ran into you".

Frederick sighed, resting his upper back and head against one of the wooden poles. She had finished the sandwich in a matter of seconds as she reached for the AK-47 again.

"Which reminds me", she went on as she withdrew the clip from the firearm.

Sonya looked into the clip and saw only four more bullets left.

"Just four more rounds", she snapped the clip back into its rightful place in the weapon.

"Great", he kept his head rested, "That should be enough to make one of those things sneeze. Maybe".

Just then, both humans heard a distinct sound emanating from ahead. This time, it was not the rain. Sonya jumped to her feet a moment before Frederick did as she grabbed the AK-47 and held it at the ready.

"We should stick together", she whispered, "It's out there. It's better if we're not just sitting ducks when it arrives".

He only nodded in approval as she stepped out of the makeshift rain shelter. The moderate rain instantly drenched her as he followed from two steps behind. The kombatant walked ahead, the weapon combing the area where she was looking. Frederick was trailing her but getting further away as she proceeded forward, indicating he was nervous, as was understandable.

"Stay close, Fred", she whispered without turning around, wishing the rain would cease so she'd be able to zero in on the source of the sound better.

Unknown to her, Frederick was slowly but steadily wandering to the left as they stayed outside and she walked in a straight line forward. Neither one spoke for approximately a minute as she was still trying to keep her ears as focused as possible. Hearing nothing, Sonya turned around expecting to find him within an arm's reach. Finding no one, she twisted around frantically, spotting him about fifteen steps away. Frederick seemed drenched from head to toe as he also was combing the surrounding night scene. The kombatant was about to call out to tell him that perhaps what they heard was not a Centaur. She did not get a chance to because her sharp eyes caught the silhouette of an eight-foot tall Centaur standing behind him and to his left.

"NOOO", she lifted the AK-47, aiming for the intruder.

Sonya squeezed hard on the trigger, sending the four remaining bullets into the Centaur's torso. Still not seeing the threat behind him, Frederick dropped to the ground because he had instinctively thought the weapon was aimed at him. Seeing that the firearm had no noticeable effect, as expected, the kombatant held the weapon by its muzzle and rushed forward, getting ready to swing it at the Centaur's head. She reached him while Frederick was still on the ground and frozen. Lifting the AK-47 clear over her head, she was about to swing it downward and into the intruder's horns as she felt the back of his knuckles crashing into her face first. The single blow from her opponent forced her to lose the grip on the weapon as she flew backwards into the air.

Sonya landed on her stomach as the wet, but still hard, ground broke her fall. She was dazed momentarily as she lifted her head and looked back towards the invader. She saw Frederick looking up and screaming as the Centaur bent down and gripped his collar. The Centaur then easily lifted the human with one hand before tossing him upwards into the air. Frederick yelled louder as he flew in a straight 45 degree angle before he slammed into a brick wall about twenty yards over the ground. His broken body then fell vertically down. He was silent as he lay on his back, immobile.

The kombatant's eyes, in the meantime, saw several pieces of metal on the ground around her as she also felt some under her own body. Her hair was not in front of her eyes since it was tied as a tail at the back of her head. She was thus able to spot a three-inch long rusted nail lying nearby. Turning back to the Centaur while still on the ground, she saw him smiling as he used his right hand to indicate that he wanted her to come towards him. He was purposefully daring her to attack again. Accepting his challenge, Sonya growled as she stood, casually picking the nail up as she did. The night scene helped her hold the nail tightly between two of her fingers without the Centaur seeing it.

She approached the intruder as that one stood ready for what he thought would be a more interesting victim. From three steps away, Sonya rushed forward and kicked him hard in the stomach. The Centaur softly moaned as he bent forward under the blow, expecting to stand up straight soon in order to respond with his own brand of punishment. He didn't get a chance to because the kombatant took advantage of his current condition. With his lowered head slightly above her own, she plunged the nail into his left eye, pushing with all the strength in her arm. The Centaur gave an ear-piercing scream as he stood up straight, both his hands trying to grab the invisible pain in his left eye socket. He turned from her and staggered away, not wanting to give her a chance to inflict any more injuries since he was now at a disadvantage. Sonya didn't wish to chase him anyway as she watched him retreat in overwhelming pain. She could still hear him screaming from a distance as she turned and walked towards Frederick.

The kombatant knelt next to his supine body as she saw him bleeding from the nose and mouth. The rain was quickly washing a majority of the blood away as she lifted Frederick's upper body and slipped her left forearm under his shoulders. Sonya then rested her right hand on his chest as he looked up at her.

"It's gonna OK... It's gonna OK... It's gonna OK", she repeated in a loud whisper.

Frederick only moaned once before his face turned to the side. He was dead as his eyes remained open.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott hurried forward, having a particular destination in mind. He reasoned to himself that whichever soldiers had survived the original onslaught of the invaders would've gone back to the Army base. Of what he had seen so far, he could safely assume that the Centaurs did not stay anywhere permanently, at least not yet. The invaders were first on a search-and-destroy mission to eliminate all human resistors. Thus, once the base was seemingly destroyed and all of its occupants either dead or scattered outside of it, the Centaurs would leave it. However, Scott believed that many soldiers would return there since it was the one place where they were very likely to find weapons that could hurt the invaders, mainly the Arols. The hope of finding as many of his team mates alive as possible vigorously pushed him ahead.

The ninja had been running for about two straight hours before he finally reached his destination. The base appeared to be even more dilapidated than he had expected it to be. Pieces of crumbling stone and smoke were everywhere. Telling himself that he could've joined a marathon once the invasion force was defeated, he proceeded inside. Scott approached the inside of the compound where the attack had originally started. Looking around, he felt almost subdued with grief because he found no one else there. Sadness unexpectedly engulfed him, so Scott sat down among the rubble. He told himself that perhaps all of his team mates, including Sonya, were already dead. Perhaps he was the last soldier in the entire area who was still alive and he was only fantasizing about a regrouping that would strike into the heart of the invasion force. Perhaps the last memory he would have of the only woman he ever loved was of her running away after having lured a Centaur to follow her in order to save his life. Following the pattern of thought with which he was trained in the military, he could not come up with any other reason for the other soldiers not returning to the base.

Scott punched the hard ground next to him, telling himself he could not be allowed to feel sorry for himself. If his friends and team mates were dead, then their souls would rest in peace over the corpses of every single Centaur who ever existed. A ninja never gave up, and he knew it well. Vengeance would be his, one Centaur at a time, until the entire invasion force was decimated. He would save the world, even if his friends were not around to witness it from a first hand basis. Standing up, Scott looked around as a new spark appeared in his eyes. It was cold, a spark indicating his desire for uncompromising revenge. He knew the first thing he would need to do was find new firepower.

The ninja passionately combed through the ruins of what used to be the base in Washington DC. It didn't take him long to find an Arol and several 45 millimeter shells among the dead soldiers. Carrying six extra shells along with the loaded rocket launcher, Scott proceeded towards the area which used to serve as the barracks. He told himself that the time to mourn the comrades who had already fallen was not right now. The payment of respect to the dead would come after the invaders had been successfully driven back, with as many of them leaving as cadavers as possible. Searching through the rubble of the barracks, he eventually found what he was looking for. Under several inches of dust and trash lay several wrapped commando outfits. He had reached the massive closet where all the commando outfits were stored when not in use. Scott thus rested the Arol on the ground and cleared the debris in order to find an outfit that fit him.

He would've preferred to have a ninja outfit handy, but since none was presently available, the commando outfit was second best. He also needed one because he noticed he had started to shiver as the only clothing he had on was a sweatshirt he had brought over to the U.S. from Hong Kong. Within minutes, he was heading out of the base, carrying the rocket launcher and dressed in the heavy commando outfit. The pitch-black uniform did an excellent job of keeping the cold air out.

Feeling movement from his right, the ninja quickly spun in that direction as the muzzle of the rocket launcher was ready to fire into anything that moved. He lowered the portable cannon towards the ground when he noticed a man trying to hide behind the remains of a burned car. That one panicked and dropped to the ground even though he already knew he had been spotted. Scott raised his left hand into the air as he held on to the Arol with his right, desiring to calm the overwhelming fears the other human was clearly experiencing.

"I won't hurt you. I'm not one of them", he called, "You can come out".

No response.

Not having the time to play games, Scott almost casually walked towards the burned vehicle. Passing the hood, he turned and stared at the individual who was shivering in a squatted position behind it. The man was a few years older than Scott and he was shivering from fear and not from the cold, since he already wore a heavy coat.

"Come on, man, we're on the same side", the ninja added, "Come on out".

The man only looked up at the commando outfit, still not responding. The ninja stepped closer towards him and he quickly took a step back. Since he was still squatted as he did so, he fell down on his back. He yelled out and held his arms out in front of his face as he saw Scott approaching.

"Will you relax?", the ninja finally reached him and pulled him up to his feet, "Do I look like a weirdo with four legs to you? I won't hurt you!".

The frightened man finally stopped screaming and examined his outfit as well as his weapon.

"Name's Scott", the ninja introduced himself, "And you?".

"L... Lee", the man blurted out, still shivering, but not as much as before.

"OK, Lee", Scott told him, "Why don't you come along with me? You'll probably be as safe then as you'll ever be alone".

"Who are you?", Lee asked, inquiring about his black clothes.

"I'm with the military", the ninja said, "We blew away quiet a few of those sons of bitches. But then again, they blew away quiet a few of us. The only question remaining is, do you wanna remain here and let them rule over you like you're nothing but a rat, or do you wanna come with me and help me kick some ass?".

"Are you suicidal?", Lee snapped, "I saw what those things can do! You must be an idiot to want to go after them!".

"Maybe so, but we'll outlive them on the long run", Scott calmly replied, "I'm sure of it".

"You're on your own, man!", Lee continued, turning away, "I ain't getting involved with a suicidal nut".

"Fine", the ninja briskly turned also and began walking away.

Lee saw him leaving. Not wanting to be alone, he decided to speak up.

"Look, uh... Maybe I could just tag along...", he called out to the ninja's back, "Just for the ride".

Scott turned his face around, locking eyes with that one.

"Come on, then", he replied with a smile.

Relieved, Lee ran towards him and slowed into a walk as he reached the ninja.

"I'm just really scared, you know what I'm saying?", Lee kept shivering as he walked alongside of Scott.

The ninja nodded in response, his alert eyes combing the ruined city all around him.

"I just don't think I can go on, man!", Lee's voice shook, so Scott stopped and looked at him.

"Why don't they just kill me and get it over with?!", Lee raised his voice, reasoning that death could not have been worse than the feeling he was experiencing at the moment.

With the rocket launcher pointed towards the ground in his right hand, the ninja wrapped his left hand around Lee's throat. The grip wasn't hard since it allowed that one enough room to breath through, but it calmed him down as Scott pushed him backwards and flattened his back against a wall. The ninja stared into that one's eyes, reasoning that he was taking this actions for Lee's own good.

"Listen to me, panicking isn't gonna do us any good", the ninja whispered as Lee quieted down, "I promise you, we'll both survive this. Centaurs only have a size advantage over us. I haven't met a single one yet who could outclass us".

Lee didn't immediately answer, possibly because he was absorbing the ninja's words.

"I don't have anything to live for, man!", tears came down his eyes when he finally replied, "They killed my family! I was so scared at the time, all I did was hide! Cowards like that don't even _deserve_ to live!".

"You froze", Scott let go of his throat, "Everybody freezes at some time or another. It happens to the best of us".

Lee wiped his eyes without saying anything.

"What are you doing?", the soldier kept trying to lift his spirit up, "They already took your family away. You're gonna let them take you too? Don't you wanna pay them back for what they did?".

"I don't have the strength", Lee whispered.

"Sure you do", Scott wouldn't give up.

Before either man said anything else, they both heard a distinct series of footsteps emanating from the right. They turned around to see an extermination squad of eight Centaurs who were patrolling the city as they looked for survivors whom they knew were around. Lee's eyes widened and Scott calmly raised the Arol as both sides saw each other.

"RUN!", was the only word Lee heard the ninja screaming as the Centaurs charged towards them all at once.

Scott aimed and pulled the trigger of the rocket launcher. The first shell exploded into the stomach of the Centaur he had in his sights. That one yelled and fell backwards, his wound sending a pool of blood on the ground. The seven other Centaurs kept charging ahead, ignoring their dying comrade. The ninja stood his ground and fired a second time, stopping a second patrol member cold in his tracks in the same fashion. With two invaders dead, Scott turned and began running after Lee, who was about ten steps ahead. He knew he would have to be moving as he reloaded because the remaining members of the patrol would've reached him if he had kept standing.

Hurrying as fast as he could while he loaded two new shells into the Arol, Scott finally secured the second round into the rocket launcher. He then turned around and stood still as Lee kept running. Raising the weapon, he aimed into the head of the first Centaur he saw. He swiftly pulled the trigger, a light beam of smoke following the propelled shell as it shot out of the rocket launcher and headed for the target. The beam of smoke ended as it seemed to touch the invader's face and that one's head exploded, sending blood and bone fragments around him. The ninja next turned the Arol towards the next adversary, firing again and tearing a gruesome hole into that one's chest.

Scott's eyes caught sight of the larger Centaur who was next to the fourth member of the patrol who had dropped dead on the ground. With a fraction of a second, the ninja recognized that particular Centaur as the one who had demanded their surrender in the warehouse. He realized he was staring at Motaro, the head of the invasion force. Wishing he had saved the second shell from the rocket launcher for that one, Scott decided to try to reload instead of turning and running again. Unfortunately, Motaro proved to be too quick this time. As the human was about to secure his first shell into the rocket launcher, the chief Centaur accelerated and sped past the other members of the patrol. Motaro reached Scott unexpectedly early and lowered his upper body, his horns crashing into Scott's forehead.

The ninja saw stars as he dropped his weapon and then felt the ground racing towards him since he was falling down. He turned and fell on his stomach, seeing nothing but black. He believed he was dead. Motaro, on the other hand, stood over the ninja's unconscious body and yelled at the three remaining patrol members as those stopped nearby.

"GO AFTER HIM, FOOLS!", the chief Centaur pointed towards the fleeing Lee, "AND BRING HIM BACK ALIVE, OR ELSE!".

The three Centaurs quickly resumed their chase as they galloped after Lee.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Scott realized when he regained consciousness was that he was still alive. The second thing was that both his arms were chained in a horizontal position to a fence which was behind him. The ninja looked to his right and saw Lee restrained exactly as he was about two yards away. They could both see about thirty Centaurs several steps ahead, with Motaro situated in the middle of the group. The leader of the invasion force was whispering loud enough to be heard by the other Centaurs, but not by the two humans.

"I will now show you the weakness and lack of loyalty that plagues these humans", the chief Centaur grinned at his students, "Do you have it?".

"Yes", one of his students approached him.

With Scott and Lee watching and wondering, the student handed Motaro a large knife. The chief Centaur next walked up to the two humans. Lee was obviously scared, but Scott showed no emotions. The ninja knew that the Centaurs would have killed them already if they had wanted to. The fact that they didn't proved that they wanted the humans alive. Scott assumed the reason for that wish was about to be revealed. Without a word to the two, Motaro approached Lee and grabbed the chains that attached that one's right hand to the fence. With a swift pull, the Centaur easily snapped the chain apart. Lee gave out a slight yell at the pain and shook his right hand as it was freed. Motaro then handed Lee the knife, asking him nonverbally to take it. The human gripped the weapon's handle with his free right hand, still wondering what the Centaur's plan was.

"This is my proposal", Motaro spoke up, making sure he could be heard by both the captive humans and his students.

The chief Centaur stared at Lee as he continued, still in the same tone of voice.

"You are free to leave this place unharmed", Motaro announced, "I will also tell all my students not to harm you. _All_ you have to do is use that knife to stab this other human to death".

Motaro pointed at Scott, indicating Lee had to kill the ninja in order to buy himself a pass out of there. The chief Centaur then walked back towards his students, grinning and feeling proud. Lee, in the meantime, was looking intently into Scott's eyes, asking himself about what was going through the ninja's mind. Scott's facial expression revealed nothing. He was wearing an emotionless face as he calmly stared back at Lee, waiting for that one's next move. After locking eyes quietly for several heartbeats, Lee turned his face back to Motaro. The only reaction the Centaurs saw was Lee dropping the knife on the ground.

"You do what you have to do", Lee told them, "But I ain't doing this".

Motaro's smile faded as anger took over his face. He placed his hands together, murmuring silently to himself. Within seconds, a red bolt of lighting shot out of the sky and struck Lee in the chest, killing him instantly. The human dropped towards the ground, his left hand still held high as it was chained to the fence. Scott growled like a mountain lion as the chief Centaur laughed. The ninja tried to lash out as his chains held him back against the fence. Motaro could still hear the human growling as he turned around and walked away, still smiling. The other students followed their leader. Unknown to them, the smile on Motaro's face was a fake one. The chief Centaur was feeling extremely disappointed because he had failed when Lee refused to kill another human being.

Back at the fence, the ninja finally stopped growling and stood still. He knew he could free himself from the chains if he gave it enough time and patience. Since the Centaurs had left, he had all the time he could ever need.

"You should've killed me when you had the chance, you son of a bitch", the ninja said, referring to Motaro, as he began the task of loosening the chains from around each wrist.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in their own realm, Shang Tsung looked at Shao Kahn.

"They are losing, aren't they?", Shang Tsung asked, referring to the humans.

"Yes", Shao Kahn replied before he sighed.

"They are too disorganized, my emperor", the demon sorcerer told Shao Kahn, "They are unable to pull their spirits up in order to strike with any effectiveness".

"True", the emperor replied, "It looks like we will have to listen to Motaro boast once he conquers the humans".

"We can still avoid that situation", Shang Tsung pressed, "You _can_ intervene".

"Doing so would mean angering the deity from the Centaurs' home realm", Shao Kahn replied, even though his second-in-command knew it well.

"But you are not a deity, my emperor", the sorcerer answered, "That god cannot challenge you as he could Rayden".

"He could still prove to be a thorn in our sides", Shao Kahn insisted.

"I disagree", Shang Tsung pointed out, "Especially if our actions help the humans beat Motaro's forces. With the Earth realm's victory, Motaro will realize he is not powerful without us and he will be under your direct control. And with him, so will all the Centaurs he commands. They will then be forced to choose our side over their former deity's".

Shao Kahn said nothing. He had to admit to himself that the thought of having over a billion Centaurs in his army sounded appealing. However, he still had his doubts about going against the wishes of the Centaurs' realm's deity.

"I do not know if it's wise", the emperor finally told the sorcerer, "I must spend more time considering my options".

"Allow me to examine the Earth realm, emperor", Shang Tsung offered, "I could report back to you if it is worth the stress of having it under our control in the future instead of having it used against us by Motaro".

Shao Kahn suspiciously stared at the demon sorcerer for a few moments.

"Why the sudden interest in the Earth realm?", the emperor asked.

"I simply do not wish to see such a valuable realm slip through our fingers", Shang Tsung defended his belief.

"Agreed", Shao Kahn declared, "Go there now and report back".

Shang Tsung bowed before his emperor flicked two fingers together in that one's right hand. The demon sorcerer vanished, having teleported into the Earth realm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott was freed from the chains as he headed back to the spot where Motaro had captured him and Lee. Surely enough, the Arol and four extra shells were still on the ground, exactly where he had dropped them when he was hit. He needed every bit of inner strength to keep himself from becoming emotionally upset. He told himself that Lee's death would be avenged along with everyone else's as he ran past the four scorched bodies of the Centaurs and reached the rocket launcher. The ninja held his breath, disgusted at the smell of the burned Centaur corpses. He was loading the next two shells into the Arol when he heard noise from behind him.

The ninja twisted around as he finished loading the rocket launcher. He aimed the Arol behind him in case he had heard another enemy patrol. Scott then lowered the weapon again as he saw an Oriental man staring back at him.

"Sorry", the ninja spoke first, "I thought you might've been a freak".

The man did not respond. Bending down to pick up the last two extra shell, Scott thought to himself that the new man was exceptionally well dressed and calm, in contrast with everyone else, including the ninja.

"My name's Scott", he continued, eyeing the stranger, "I'm with the Army".

"I know who you are", the Oriental man flatly replied.

The tone of that one's voice caught the ninja off-guard.

"Really?", Scott asked, getting suspicious.

"I am Shang Tsung", the stranger told him, "Agent of my emperor Shao Kahn".

Scott realized who he was talking to and became a little more alert, waiting for the unexpected.

"Sonya told me about you", the ninja said, "I can't say much about you in the way of praise, but I must admit you've got good taste in the opposite gender".

Shang Tsung thought to himself that the lady kombatant had told the ninja too much if that one knew enough information to answer in such a way.

"But that is not the matter", the sorcerer commented, "I am simply here to see for myself what kind of a realm you mortals truly influence".

"Yeah, well, I don't think you picked the right time to do a survey", Scott was about to turn away, with his ears always directed towards the sorcerer in case that one should try to strike, "Besides, I don't need lessons from some little wannabe who pretends to be something he's not".

"I wouldn't be so hasty to leave if I were you", Shang Tsung gave an icy smile, "I am not the 'wannabe' that you take me for. After all, from my service to the emperor, I have several entire worlds under my command as we speak".

"Huh", the ninja stopped, "But I have something you don't. Sonya's heart".

The sorcerer's face hardened as he remained under full control.

"Was that what you said when you struck her?", the 1000-year old magician asked, still smiling.

His words struck a nerve in Scott's mind. The ninja replied with an aggressive grin of his own.

"That was a one-time thing", the human defended himself, "I still hadn't gotten used to the new body and the new memories from the clone. It won't happen again".

"There is _always_ an excuse, isn't there?", Shang Tsung answered, "You planned to make her your bride. Would that be wise? After all, what kind of a groom would you make?".

"Please! I know the marriage was my idea, but I did what I had to do", Scott had enough, "We all do. Besides, I'm being given a lecture about morals now from someone who specializes in enslaving worlds?".

"Like you said, we all do what we have to", the sorcerer told him, "There is no right or wrong, it is only a matter of which side one is on".

"That's right", the ninja kept grinning, "Either way, she must've believed me. She _obviously_ liked my tactic better than yours".

"Sonya is still alive", Shang changed the subject because he predicted he would lose the conversation if it continued for much longer, "As are a fraction of your friends and comrades. Of course, whether or not they stay that way remains to be seen".

Both men stopped giving each other a cold smile.

"They're alive?", the Earth fighter was cautiously pleased, "Where are they now, then?".

"Probably hiding to the best of their abilities", the visitor from another realm let him know, "But once the sun rises, hiding will prove to be much more difficult".

Scott only stared into the sorcerer's eyes.

"And why are you telling me this?", the ninja finally asked.

"You trained with Durak, you may find it is up to you to repel this invasion", the visitor said, "I think you know how that can be done".

Common sense told Scott that his old self wouldn't have been a match against Shang Tsung, since Sonya had told him that she couldn't beat him and she was clearly better than him when they first met. However, the new body of the ninja had changed all the rules and Shang Tsung knew it well. Scott was now curious about which one of the two fighters was the better.

"Perhaps we will get the chance, one day", Shang Tsung seemed to be able to read his mind, "If you wish to find me when this... mess... is over, simply ask Rayden. I am sure you will prove to be an interesting sparring adversary".

"I look forward to it", the ninja replied.

Shang Tsung placed his right fist into his left palm and pressed both hands against his chest before he bowed his head. Scott placed both hands palm-down against the side of his thighs and bowed his upper body as a response. Both men didn't break the even eye contact until the sorcerer teleported away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What did you find?", Shao Kahn asked his agent as the sorcerer returned home.

"They are pompous, obnoxious, full of undeserved pride", Shang Tsung replied, "I unquestionably want them under our control, not Motaro's".

"I could use suggestions", the emperor asked for the sorcerer's advice.

"Bringing them together could lift their spirit", Shang Tsung said, "That, in turn might encourage them to give their best".

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Scott was walking away from the dark, seeming uninhabited homes, he wondered what the visit from the sorcerer was all about. He was suddenly overcome with a strange feeling. He looked at his hands as the Arol was in his right grip. His entire body had turned into a silvery color. Worried, the ninja gripped the rocket launcher and aimed it ahead of him. His surroundings soon vanished and he then found himself standing next to an old, decrepit factory which was covered with graffiti and surrounded with abandoned cars. A small number of the cars had been intentionally set on fire. Clearly ready for whatever challenged came next, the ninja searched around.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Leaving Frederick's body as the rain finally ceased, Sonya found herself being overcome with a silvery color also. She gasped as her surroundings changed without her expecting it. Standing in a fighting stance, she next looked up and saw a large abandoned factory which she would describe as nothing but an eye sore. Turning her face, the kombatant then saw a man in black as that one aimed a rocket launcher at her. That human then lowered the weapon since he saw who he was aiming it to.

"Scott?", she exclaimed as she was staring into the ninja's face.

"Sonya?", the ninja in turn dropped the Arol as he noticed her also from twenty yards away.

"You're alive!", she dashed towards him.

They embraced. The only thought that went through her mind was how comfortably warm he felt.

"Man! You must be freezing like that", he remarked as they separated.

The ninja quickly pulled off the heavy black turtleneck which served as part of the commando outfit and handed it to her.

"This should help", he handed her the first half of the top clothes, leaving only the tank top as he felt the cold for the first time.

"You're sure?", she asked, still wanting to rough it out now that she saw him.

"Positive", he handed her the sweater, "How the hell did we get here?".

"I wish I knew", she commented as she slipped the black turtleneck on, finally beginning to warm up to a comfortable condition.

She thought to herself that the bright-green loose pants and the pitch-black turtleneck looked uneven at best, but she had more important things to worry about as he picked up his weapon.

"We were brought here for a reason", the ninja commented as he stared away, the rocket launcher at the ready.

"Could Rayden have done this?", the kombatant asked herself.

"Possibly", Scott replied, not telling her about Shang Tsung's visit, "Or maybe it was someone else's handy work. And I'm gonna find out why".

Both fighters were still carefully proceeding towards the edge of the factory when a car which was on the other side of the parking lot exploded in a bright fireball. Their military instincts took over. Scott dropped to the ground, intending to cover her with his body. Sonya dropped to the ground, intending to cover him with her body also. The result was that his forehead slammed into her nose and neither individual was able to lie flat on the ground. With Scott holding his forehead and Sonya holding her nose, they both stood back up straight, thankful the explosion was far enough that neither one was hit by flying metal or glass.

"You OK?", she asked as the explosion illuminated the area.

He nodded, retaining his grip on the Arol.

"The next time something explodes, _I_ cover _you_", Scott spoke up, "Let's make that a rule".

"No way!", Sonya smiled, "I was your superior, so I cover _you_. I outranked you, remember".

"True, but I had an honorable discharge", he smiled back, "So my position now is higher than yours. Besides, it won't matter once all this is done".

"Meaning what?", the kombatant wanted him to clarify.

"I had talked to the colonel a bit after you pulled us out of the water", he became serious and turned his face towards the parking lot, combing the area, "With a good word on your behalf from me, of course, he said he'd like to have you back in the military when things are back to normal. Previous rank and position and all".

"Huh? How?", she was astounded.

"I told you", he smiled again, "Even the colonel was impressed at what you did in the water. I was coming over to tell you when the freaks raided the warehouse".

"And what makes you or anybody else think that I _want_ my old position back?", she questioned, pretending as if the idea was of no interest.

"It's in your blood, Sonya", he turned to her, "Just like it's in mine. And we both know it. Besides, the Army graced me by letting me be a private again when things are back to normal also. While you're heading some special, possibly anti-Centaur platoon, I'm gonna be the first Special Forces commando slash ninja in human history".

"Back to normal?", she repeated, liking what she had heard, "You mean we can live and work in the same base like before?".

"That's right", Scott smiled, "But you have to understand that when the training and what-have-you is over, I'm going to those single bars with all the other guys".

"Really? You really think so?", she smiled back.

"Naah", he corrected, "I'll be the only private hurrying into the lieutenant's quarters when we have time off".

"I do like the sound of that", she had to admit.

Unknown to them, Shang Tsung had placed his hands together and created a mystical cloud that could see into the Earth realm. Many members of Shao Kahn's cabinet had gathered in the palace chamber to watch the result of the emperor's actions. They were all hoping that the ploy would succeed in helping the humans defeat the Centaurs, since no one wanted to hear Motaro boast. The members of the cabinet, as well as the sorcerer and the emperor, watched the two human fighters inside the cloud as those proceeded closer to their destination.

Scott and Sonya, on the other hand, didn't have to wait long before they heard a human being crying out in anguish. They also listened to the sounds of cheers and gallops, indicating Centaurs were the reason for the anguish. Both fighters reached the edge of the factory and looked around the side. They saw a bonfire burning as six scorched human bodies had already been placed into it and were already dead for a long time. A seventh human, though, was still alive as he was being bullied around by the cheering Centaurs.

"Motaro, that's him", Scott whispered, recognizing and pointing at the chief Centaur.

Sonya said nothing as they spied on the estimated twenty Centaurs who had gathered around the fire.

"Enough is enough", the ninja whispered, "I know how this has to end".

The two remaining rounds in the Arol obviously weren't enough to defeat a small army of invaders, so Sonya realized he was talking about challenging Motaro to a fight.

"Get out of here, Sonya", Scott whispered next, suspecting she would not follow his advice, "This is between him and me. There's no point in you getting involved too".

"No, if you stay, then I stay", she whispered back.

"There is no point to it!", he pressed, "The fight has to be one on one. If I lose, all you're gonna be is another meaningless sacrifice to them. If I win, then it won't matter because they'll all be forced back. Leave, please!".

"No!!", she snapped back, still in a whisper, "I am _not_ leaving you behind! Either we both go or we both die!".

Scott realized he had no more time to waste in the argument as the third and last human was carried by a Centaur while that one headed for the fire, intending to throw him in. The man's pleas and cries were answered with smiles as he felt the heat from the fire getting closer.

"STOP IIIIIIT!", Scott revealed himself as he quickly advanced towards the invaders, the rocket launcher aimed at the Centaur who was holding the human sacrifice in midair.

Sonya followed close behind him as everyone quieted down and all eyes turned at the two human fighters .

"Put him down!", the ninja ordered.

That particular Centaur, in turn, looked at Motaro, who nodded. With his leader's approval, the Centaur lowered the man to the ground. Once on his feet, that one shivered as he stood up straight.

"Get out of here", Sonya told the human.

The man looked at the Centaurs, unsure as to whether or not he would be pursued once he left. Seeing them all staring at the two fighters, he reasoned this was his best chance to exit the area unharmed. He was frequently looking behind him as he slowly ran out of the parking lot. Seeing it, Scott next lifted the Arol higher and aimed it towards Motaro. The chief Centaur showed no sign of fear. On the contrary, he almost seemed pleased at the unexpected visit. He knew the ninja would not open fire, since that would turn him into a martyr and do nothing in the way of pushing the invasion force back. Sonya grabbed Scott's arm from behind, trying to pull him towards her, but the ninja proved to be immobile as he and the chief Centaur had locked eyes.

"Come on, Scott", she spoke up, "The man's gone. We don't have to stay".

The lack of response from him worried her, as she could guess what was on the ninja's mind.

"I can't", Scott lowered the rocket launcher towards the ground, "This has to end".

"You don't have to do this", the kombatant insisted, "We can keep fighting them on a street level. We can still win".

"I doubt it", he slowly shook his head, not looking at her, "And even if we did, how many more of us would have to die, huh? This is the only way".

The student Centaurs must have realized what was on his mind also, since they slowly approached the two humans. Motaro only stood his ground, eyeing his opponent as the ninja finally turned to Sonya when he spoke to her.

"Your last chance to leave, boss", he remarked.

"Don't", the kombatant locked eyes with him, "Don't. Just don't".

"Do you wish to challenge me, human?", Motaro thundered from several yards away, the light from the fire reflecting off his majestic human upper body.

Scott took a step towards the chief Centaur. A single step was all he got because Sonya gripped his upper arm, tighter this time. It was with more strength that she had realized because he felt her ten fingernails digging into his biceps and triceps muscles.

"Don't, pleeeaaase", she whispered from behind him, panic setting in her voice.

Turning around to face her, he tried to get out of her grip, but the kombatant only held on to his arm tighter.

"You can't do it! I won't let you!", her voice became more aggressive, "I'm _ordering_ you not to fight, you hear me?".

Scott looked back at Motaro as he answered.

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, _miss_ Blade", he said, "But you were only allowed to go back to Hong Kong to advise the troops. Your old rank only comes in after the invasion is defeated. Until then, you're only a civilian".

He locked eyes with her and stopped. He was right about her rank and both fighters knew it.

"As appreciated as the notion is", the ninja continued before he kissed the scar on her left cheek.

She didn't resist as he pulled his arm free.

"What are you so worried about?", he smiled, "I get a chance to show off in front of the girl of my dreams _and_ save the world at the same time. What could be better?".

He might've been smiling, but Sonya could see the ninja was nervous despite his attempts to hide his fear. She could easily see why he felt that way. Motaro was taller and more massive than Qarro or any of the other Centaurs. Even though all the Centaurs were naturally big, Motaro always managed to stand out among them.

"No matter what happens, don't interfere", the ninja advised, "This _has_ to be one on one".

He then turned around and faced Motaro again.

"Hey, horseman!", Scott raised his voice, "Consider yourself challenged".

As both gladiators took a few steps closer, still standing far enough away from each other, one of the other Centaurs approached Sonya from behind. The invader then wrapped a muscular arm around her shoulders and pinned her back against his front.

"Uck!", the kombatant's hands gripped the restraining forearm by instinct as she found herself immobile.

That method was the only way Motaro's students could've made sure that the second fighter truly did not interfere in the confrontation.

Motaro gave out a yell and punched the factory wall that was a short distance away, knocking stone out of it with his bare fist.

"Unimpressive", the ninja replied out loud after he saw the damage done to the wall.

The human executed a perfect roundhouse and front kicks into the air. Not needing any more stretching to give his best, Scott then stood straight and calmly stared at his opponent from ten steps away. Everyone's eyes both in the parking lot and in Shao Kahn's castle were on the two adversaries. The chief Centaur and the ninja slowly walked around an invisible circle as they faced each other. Motaro screamed and charged forward. The human yelled out and rushed ahead also.

Scott slammed into the Centaur with all the hatred and strength that his personality and that of his clone's could afford him. The ninja first swung and sent his right fist into Motaro's stomach. The Centaur bent down under the exceptionally hard blow. Scott then followed it with a left punch to the lowered head. As his adversary's face snapped towards that one's left, the ninja next twisted to his own left and placed his right arm on his left shoulder. He then swung and the back of his right knuckles smashed into the side of Motaro's face. Before the Centaur could even strike for the first time, the human punched him in the stomach again. Motaro bent down for the second time, more annoyed than hurt. This time, Scott executed a high front kick into his lowered head, sending the Centaur staggering backwards as that one's face snapped towards the sky. Motaro stopped himself after he took three small, involuntary steps behind him. Both opponents locked eyes from three steps away, with the ninja already in his fighting stance again, feeling glad he wasn't touched so far.

"Come on, freak!", the human dared the Centaur.

Accepting his offer, Motaro rushed ahead, twisting his upper body to his own left as he did. Scott saw the back of the Centaur's right knuckles swinging towards his face and blocked the hit with his forearm. Unfortunately, the Centaur's arm was much stronger than his and Motaro's fist tore past his forearm and crashed into his face anyway. The ninja felt an explosion in his head as he was thrown backwards into the air before he landed on his back almost ten yards away. Sonya's head snapped upwards as she saw the strike, almost as if she had been hit herself. Lying on his back but not discouraged, Scott instantly raised his legs and smoothly jumped back to a standing position. He growled softly as he felt blood coming out of his mouth and rushed back into the Centaur's direction.

The human twisted to his left and sent his right ankle into Motaro's left front knee. The Centaur groaned since he had been getting ready to strike the human for the second time. Before he got the chance, Scott twisted to his right as his left leg shot up. The ninja's left foot impacted into Motaro's chest and that one staggered two steps backwards. Still close enough to his adversary, the Centaur lowered his upper body forward and swung with his left arm. His left fist slammed into the human's jaw and Scott staggered a countless number of steps away. The ninja felt dazed and was having trouble stranding straight as he looked ahead and saw the Centaur charging towards him.

Motaro reached the human as that one was still not ready and sent a vicious uppercut into the ninja's chin, easily knocking him back down on the ground. As the Centaur was then getting ready to crush his opponent under his front legs, that one surprised everyone as he swiftly pulled himself back up to his feet. Astonished since he thought he was looking at a sure win, Motaro didn't have enough time to react as Scott kicked him in the stomach. Still more annoyed than hurt, the Centaur gripped the human's tank top with his right hand and lifted his adversary half a yard into the air. Scott's eyes widened as he saw Motaro's horns coming towards him since the chief Centaur was about to headbutt him. Another explosion followed in Scott's mind as the horns smashed into his face. His head snapped back as he saw blood exploding out of it and his body went limp as it was still held in midair. Not wanting to give the resilient human a chance to recover, Motaro then followed with a left punch into his face as he was still restrained helplessly in the air. Scott didn't feel the punch since his senses were already knocked apart from the head butt. The human's head snapped to his left as his eyes were almost closed. He thus only had a small glimpse as Motaro then headbutted him a second time, sending more blood gushing out of the ninja's face.

Sonya was angrily panting as she saw the Centaur finally lowering his beaten human adversary towards the ground. Motaro only set him back down far enough so that the ninja's feet touched the ground. Scott was only semi-conscious at the time and clearly could not remain standing if it wasn't for the chief Centaur's continued grip on the tank top. With neither one of the humans knowing what to expect next, Motaro quickly lifted his right front leg and stood only on three legs. The Centaur then used his right front leg to send a devastating kick into the human's stomach. Blood gushed out of Scott's mouth at the point of impact. It was only then that Motaro released the grip on the human and stepped to the side as the ninja fell forward on his stomach. Seeing the human down, the Centaur next kicked him a second time, sending his left front leg into the side of that one's midsection.

Wiping his hands together to indicate he was finished, Motaro turned away from the downed ninja and triumphantly walked back towards his students. He felt proud as the first thing he saw was the icy look the female fighter was giving him. The chief Centaur had estimated that one kick should've been enough to kill the human adversary, so he had kicked that one twice to erase all doubt. As he wondered why his students were not cheering, he then saw the blank expression on the face of every single Centaur there since they seemed to be looking behind him. Motaro twisted around only to see Scott getting back up to his feet. The human was bleeding from both eyes as well as from the mouth while his vision faded.

"Is that your entire arsenal, freak?", Scott asked as he stood up straight.

Motaro was impressed, but he had never rewarded bravery when it came from his opponents. He charged towards the ninja again. As he reached that one, Scott executed a low roundhouse kick. The back of the human's ankle met the Centaur's waistline and that one was forced to the side. Unfortunately, Scott's strength was drained, so the kick was not as painful as it could've been otherwise. Before the ninja could strike again, Motaro punched him in the head, sending him dropping and involuntarily rolling away on the ground. As he received numerous cuts and bruises, Scott still managed to get back up, much to the chief Centaur's irritation. The human rushed towards him. Upon reaching Motaro, he jumped up and held his fists out in front of him and over his head. Both Scott's fists uppercut Motaro at once, sending a sharp pain from that one's chin into his brain.

The Centaur's face snapped towards the sky before he concentrated his efforts against the human again. Motaro punched Scott in the face with his right fist, sending the human against the wall of the factory. Cornering him there, and before the ninja could escape, the chief Centaur grabbed his jaw. Scott tried to kick his adversary's legs out from under him, but that one's arms had a longer reach than the human did. Motaro then slammed the back of Scott's head against the wall four times in quick succession. When the Centaur then let him go, the ninja pulled himself away from the wall, leaving a streak of blood in the area where the back of his head had impacted into it. Although the ninja still remained standing, he was dazed for good this time, and Motaro saw it. The chief Centaur took ten large steps backwards. Sonya realized what the invader intended to do, although Scott did not since he couldn't even see.

"Oh, no", the kombatant whispered to herself as she saw Motaro lowering his upper body and head.

The Centaur next charged forward. His lowered horns collided with Scott's chest, crushing the ninja between himself and the wall. Most of Scott's bones snapped and broke as easily as toothpicks while his muscles were torn under the impact. Motaro then pulled away and the ninja fell forward on the ground, completely decimated. The human's body convulsed twice before he stopped moving altogether. Sonya's throat tightened and she felt a single tear coming down her right eye as she saw Motaro raising his arms towards the sky and screaming, victorious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in Shao Kahn's castle, everyone who was watching the fight inside the cloud sighed and felt disappointed. They knew the only human left at the scene was the female kombatant, and she was far inferior to the ninja. Emperor Shao Kahn quietly turned his attention towards Shang Tsung, telling himself that the sorcerer looked different as that one quietly stared into the cloud as well. Shao Kahn guessed that the sorcerer's sentiment was closest to disappointment since he had wanted to spar with Scott himself later on.

"The female's obviously no threat", emperor Kahn spoke up to his delegates, "What does the majority vote desire? I will take it into consideration. We could interfere more, or just leave now and face our losses".

"The Earth realm is not lost yet, my emperor", Shang Tsung turned, "There is someone else nearby. Another kombatant".

"Who?", a member of the delegates asked.

"The actor, Johnny Cage", the sorcerer let them know, "He is nearby. He could prove to be the one we need now that the ninja is defeated".

"Agreed", emperor Kahn flicked his right thumb and index fingers together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the Earth realm, Johnny was approaching a public theater along with Olsen and Pensky as he kept an eye out for the Centaur patrols. He was suddenly overcome by a silvery color.

"What the...", he looked down at his hands.

Detective Olsen turned to the actor, curious about what he was seeing also.

"What's going on?", Pensky asked, getting nervous.

Johnny couldn't answer. He had no explanation as he disappeared while he was only steps away from the officers. The actor saw his surroundings fade before a factory appeared ahead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sonya, in the meantime, was an emotional mess as she saw Motaro lifting Scott up to his knees with a left grip. The triumphant Centaur looked down into the human's face as the ninja looked up at him. Completely helpless, Scott only braced himself for the inevitable.

"Fuck you", the human whispered as Motaro pulled his right arm back, ready to strike one last time.

Knowing that the chief Centaur was aiming for the death blow, Sonya closed her eyes and turned her face as far to the right as possible while still in the grip of the student Centaur. She didn't want to see the final blow. The only thing she knew was that the one living person other than her father with whom she had a unique relationship was about to die in the most brutal way possible at the hands of a monster. She found herself wishing she had kept the rose he had given her at the warehouse as she knew nothing more could be done. Before the final blow was heard, Johnny's voice interrupted Motaro and prompted her to open her eyes. Surprised, she saw her fellow kombatant standing just a few steps away, looking at the chief Centaur.

"What are you doing wasting your time with that wimp, Motaro?", the actor asked, coming closer to the Centaur, "He wasn't even at the original tournament, I was. Why don't you try testing your might on the only human who actually killed the Prince of Shokan?".

Motaro felt intrigued by the new challenge, especially since it would've proven his superiority to the Shokanite race if he won. The Centaur released his left grip on Scott without delivering the final blow and the ninja fell back down on the ground. The chief Centaur then turned to the kombatant as the members in Shao Kahn's castle eagerly watched again.

Motaro yelled charging ahead. Johnny leapt forward and executed a flying shadow kick. A colored shade seemed to impact into the Centaur's chest before Motaro staggered towards the factory wall. He involuntarily crashed into the wall, leaving a breach at the point of impact as pieces of stone came loose.

Angered, the chief Centaur gathered his concentration against the new adversary. He charged towards the actor, wishing to get the second fight over with quickly. The kombatant was ready as he leapt vertically into the air. Johnny's right leg shot out ahead of him, impacting into Motaro's stomach and stopping the Centaur's forward rush. Before gravity pulled him back towards the ground, the actor also pushed his left leg upward since he saw the invader bending down under the first hit. As Motaro lowered his torso forward, the kombatant's left foot thus smashed into his chin. His head snapped towards the sky as the human only then came back down on his feet.

Motaro swung at the second human with his right fist. Johnny pulled his upper body back and the Centaur's arm met air in front of him. As Motaro was still twisted to his left along with the swing, the actor sent his own fist into that one's right elbow. A blow like that would have been enough the break the arm of a human opponent, but Johnny found out that the Centaur's arm was much stronger. Motaro withdrew his right arm without even indicating any pain as the actor was forced to realize his strike did not work. The kombatant knew he had to strike again as he saw his adversary planning to swing. Without having enough time to concentrate fully, Johnny sent a high front kick into the invader's chest.

The Centaur was able to ignore the blow as he quickly twisted to his left before swinging his right arm. The back of his right knuckles found Johnny's head and knocked the actor down, cutting a deep bruise into his forehead. Happy at the result, Motaro rose on his hind legs, looking to crush the second human. The kombatant swiftly rolled on the ground and was able to move aside before the Centaur's front legs crashed into the ground next to him. The human next rose to his feet as blood flowed down his face from the wound. He smoothly twisted to his left and planted his right fist into Motaro's solar plexus. The Centaur only flinched slightly. Disappointed at the result, Johnny was getting ready to strike yet again when the invader returned the punch in the same fashion.

Motaro's left fist crashed into Johnny's chest, knocking the human down on his back and breaking several of his ribs. Before the kombatant was able to stand this time, Motaro lifted his left front leg and proceeded to step on the human's left ankle, which was nearby. Johnny heard himself screaming out as his left ankle broke under the Centaur's weight.

Motaro then stepped off the human and lifted himself on his hind legs again, looking for a second chance to crush the actor. Despite his injuries, Johnny still proved to be quicker than his adversary. The kombatant sprang to his feet while Motaro was only on two hind legs, looking to come back down. The human limped towards the Centaur with a hurry as that one was still only on two legs. As Motaro thought he would come back on his front legs to hopefully destroy the human, Johnny had already reached his lower part which looked like a horse. Preferring to execute a flying kick but knowing it was impossible because of the broken ankle, the actor punched Motaro hard in the area right between the front and hind legs.

As he was standing on two legs, looking to come down, the chief Centaur was completely surprised as he found himself being hurled backwards instead of forward. He dropped behind him and landed painfully on his human-like head. Johnny heard him roaring in anger and pain as he furiously twisted on his side and then rose back on his feet. Bellowing, Motaro rushed ahead and caught the human in the head with a decimating fist. Johnny heard nothing as he felt the impact and then saw the ground rushing towards him.

The kombatant laid on his back, looking up at the seemingly impervious Centaur. There just seemed to be no way of injuring the unstoppable chief invader. He could now understand how Scott had lost a fight to this one and was lying immobile on his stomach as a result. Johnny unsuccessfully tried to resist as Motaro bent down and gripped his neck with a left grasp. He would've been able to offer some kind of opposition, but his broken ribs screamed in pain in his chest and his left ankle forbade him from being able to stand up.

"GET OFF OF HIM!", Sonya finally yelled as she was trying to lash ahead, the Centaur still keeping her restrained, "GET YOUR GODDAMN HANDS OFF ME!".

As Johnny was unceremoniously pulled up to his feet, his broken ankle ached even more since his weight was now concentrated on it. He braced himself as he saw the aggressive and four-legged miscreant pulling back that one's right arm and getting ready to swing. A split second before the fist was about to glide through the air and into his face, everyone at the scene saw electricity emerging. Rayden appeared only steps away from the Centaur and the defeated kombatant. Motaro froze as he stared towards the deity.

"You have already won, Motaro", the thunder god pointed at him, "There is no need for further bloodshed".

"They challenged me!", the chief Centaur shot back, panting heavily.

"And you defeated them", the deity calmly replied, "You are not a sadistic brute like Goro was when he was trying to overcome the Earth realm through the tournament. Or are you?".

"That idiot wasted time and energy satisfying his sadistic desires", Motaro stared back at Johnny as he still addressed the deity, "I am more focused, more concentrated on the mission at hand alone. I do only what has to be done".

He stopped before he released the grip on Johnny's throat and let the human fall back down.

"That's why I'm better than the Shokanites, as he already found", Motaro pointed at the kombatant.

"That's right, you are", Rayden affirmed, not pointing out that Motaro was being sadistic just like Goro when he killed humans who were no threat to him, such as the little girl.

The deity did not contradict the Centaur because it seemed to be the only way of persuading that one to let the kombatant live without getting personally involved himself. He still remembered the threat from the Centaurs' deity, so he had to make sure not to directly influence the outcome.

Grinning, Motaro motioned at the Centaur who had kept Sonya in a restrained position throughout both fights. That one released her and stepped away as the chief Centaur made his way past the factory and his students followed. They were in a very joyful mood because they knew the invasion forced was constantly defeating the human resistance in a majority of the cases. With the human fighters unable to kill Motaro in a fair fight, the Earth realm was doomed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in Shao Kahn's castle, the delegates sighed in disappointment for the second time. Motaro had just destroyed two of the Earth realm's best fighters in a row. Even Shang Tsung admitted to himself that the survival of the Earth realm was a lost cause and that his emperor should just have to listen to Motaro boast. A majority of the delegates bowed towards the emperor and were dismissed as Shao Kahn knew he'd have to restrain himself once the chief Centaur visited him. He was sure Motaro would tease him about how the Centaur had conquered the humans who had eluded him so many times before.

"We tried our best, my emperor", Shang Tsung started, "There is no shame in...".

He was interrupted as he, Shao Kahn and the few remaining delegates saw an unexpected occurrence in the cloud. They each stared intently into it as they witnessed the next scene.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back outside the factory, Sonya was staring coldly at Motaro's back as the group of Centaurs walked away from her, Rayden and the two downed fighters. The tightness in her throat was gone as an eerie calmness seemed to envelop her senses. The lady kombatant proceeded to remove the top half of the commando outfit which she wore, leaving only the green outfit like before. With the chilly wind creating a tickling feeling on her bare stomach and arms, she called out.

"Hey, tough guy", she raised her voice, "There's one more person you have to go through".

Motaro stopped and turned around as he was still panting. There was a brief silence before he and all his students laughed when they realized she meant herself.

"Rayden, take these two boys somewhere else", Sonya turned to the deity and pointed at Scott and Johnny.

Johnny was awake and he tried to raise himself on his right foot. The actor was about to protest her decision, feeling there was no point to it. However, she stopped him before he even started speaking.

"Enough running away", she flatly told her fellow kombatant as she dropped the heavy black turtleneck on the ground.

"Don't, it's useless", Johnny was able to warn before Rayden placed his palms together.

Lightning bolts emanated from the deity's hands and surrounded himself and both male fighters. All three vanished within an instant. Seeing it, Sonya then approached Motaro.

"Three time's the charm", she whispered to herself as she came near.

She and the chief Centaur locked eyes.

"How about it?", she asked him, "You're gonna stand there and tell all your students that you're afraid of a woman?".

Sonya told herself that, even though Motaro was obviously superior to her and all other humans in strength and endurance, he was currently panting. The chief Centaur had just fought two of the Earth realm's best humans, and even tough he had won, it had taken a lot of energy out of him. She hoped that lack of energy would be enough to lead to his downfall.

Motaro was quiet, knowing he should not accept a third challenge so soon because he was exhausted. However, he would not be able to live with the suspicious stares his students gave to him if he refused a woman's dare.

"Oh, I can see this", Sonya spoke up, trying to intimidate him like she had provoked Sub-zero back when the ice ninja's specter had kidnapped her, "You're just a wimp, like all the other four-legs that I wasted before I came here. You just talk big, but when it comes to proving yourself, you're just a big chicken! A cockroach, a nobody! That's what you are!".

The chief Centaur's students moaned slightly at the insult their leader was enduring.

"You know what I did to one of your nobodies?", the kombatant continued, "I jumped on his back, shoved the gun into his head and pumped fourteen bullets into it. He fell on his side dead without being able to lift a finger. I guess that should not be a surprise, considering he didn't have a brain that I could damage in his head to begin with".

Still exhausted and breathing hard, Motaro had had enough. His honor demanded that he not walk away. Proving to be as gullible as Sub-zero, the chief Centaur screamed and rushed towards her. Sonya yelled as well, although her voice was much thinner than her opponent's.

The kombatant fly kicked into the Centaur, stopping him in his tracks. She landed on her feet in time to see him swing at her head. She ducked as his fist met air. Standing back up, she kicked him in the side of the right front knee with her left ankle. Sonya then followed with a solid punch into the left side of his stomach, although he didn't even seem to feel the result. As Motaro swung for as second time, she quickly somersaulted backwards and away from him. Turning upside down on her hands and then coming back on her feet a number of times quickly, she was able to cover the distance faster than she would have if she was running.

Sonya landed on her feet and stayed still as she got to within about ten yards away. From there, the chief Centaur wondered what she planned to do next as she charged forward and fly kicked into him again. The impact of her extended leg into his stomach sent him two steps backwards as he bent down and grunted, the wind having been temporarily knocked out of him. Back on her feet, she ducked again as his angry swing met air for the second time. The human responded by twisting to her right and sending her left leg into his stomach with all the strength she could afford. He bent down again, getting frustrated. She didn't give him a chance to retaliate because she uppercut him with a right fist. Motaro's head and upper body snapped back up to a standing position under the blow, but she felt the pain in her right hand.

"OW!", she gasped, holding her right wrist with the left hand, "What's he made out of?".

She didn't have to think much about it because she saw his left front leg being raised. Sonya blindly jumped to her own left, landed on the ground and rolled as a ball as his leg passed through the area where her stomach had been located only half a second ago. Standing up, she somersaulted backwards again, distancing herself from him. Although the strategy was working, she realized that she was spending more energy than him and would thus be worn out before her adversary if she continued in such a way. She had to think of something new fast.

Motaro lowered his upper body and head before rushing towards her with a scream. If his horns had impacted with the human, it was the end of the fight for sure. The horns were at the same level of height as Sonya's head as she saw him approaching fast. The kombatant quickly stepped to the left side and out of his way while the chief Centaur was running too fast to stop. As he rushed by the human, she grabbed his lowered horns and pushed him towards the direction that he was heading behind her, adding more force to his useless charge. His forward dash, strengthened by her push, sent Motaro staggering ahead for several yards before he lost his balance and his front legs buckled, forcing him to hit ground face-first.

Groaning with anger, the Centaur stood back up and turned around. Before Sonya could strike, he delivered a massive left punch to her face. Her head snapped to her left and, though she was dizzy, she saw blood spilling out of her mouth in the process. Motaro was surprised to see that she remained standing. As he tried to swing again, the kombatant twisted and sent another swift kick into his waistline, forcing him to lose the concentration of his swing as he bent down. She then took advantage of his lowered torso as she twisted to her left and kicked him in the head. Her right ankle crashed into the Centaur's jaw and snapped the invader's face to his right.

Motaro swung again, this time blindly since he was beginning to feel the effects of fighting when he was tired. His punch was easily avoided when she pulled her upper body back. The kombatant delivered a front kick into his stomach, sending his upper body forward again. Sonya then executed a smooth roundhouse kick which slammed hard into Centaur's head, hurting that one but still without knocking him down on his side. Seeing him slightly dazed and liking it, she sent another front kick into his midsection.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Johnny, in the meanwhile, staggered into the lightly-staffed hospital emergency room as he carried Scott on his right shoulder. A fraction of the nurses and doctors there had remained, reasoning that they were as safe in the hospital as they would be anywhere else. The kombatant tried to ignore his broken ankle as he brought the ninja inside. Seeing him, a nurse pushed a stretcher towards him. Johnny quickly rested the ninja on it to the best of his abilities and stood his ground as the nurse pulled the stretcher away, instructing another nurse to call a particular doctor.

"Don't ever change, Johnny", the ninja called out as he was being pulled towards the operating room, which was not the usual place for an emergency but was improvised to be under the conditions.

The actor limped towards the nearest chair and finally sat down, his ankle sending pain throughout his entire leg. He also knew that many of his ribs were broken and could feel blood dripping down from the wound on his forehead. He didn't pay attention to any of the three relatively light injuries as his thoughts were still with Scott. Johnny looked over at the closed doors of the room where his friend was taken and wondered sadly how the ninja was doing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"WIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!", Sonya screamed as her ankle met Motaro's lowered jaw for the third time.

Unlike the previous two occasions, the Centaur yelled out as he crashed on the ground on his side since her high kick proved to have enough strength this time. He quickly stood back up, knowing he must, as he felt his energy draining. Facing him as they both stood at their full height, Sonya tried to take advantage of his lack of concentration by hurting him more. The human jumped up into the air and towards her adversary as she was about to deliver an uppercut while that one stood tall. Before her fist reached his chin, though, Motaro kicked out with his left leg. The bottom of his leg impacted in her stomach while she was in midair and sharply bent her body in half. The kombatant gasped and saw stars as the wind was knocked out of her and more blood erupted from her mouth. With his left leg still pressed hard into her waistline, she came back down on the ground. The kombatant ignored the devastating pain and landed on her feet without being able to execute the uppercut.

With both fighters standing on the ground again, Motaro's eyes suddenly widened. He realized that he was not able to pull his left leg back because the human had locked both her hands around it. With fresh blood from her mouth constantly staining the halter she wore, she locked eyes with him and saw the fear in his expression as he recognized the vulnerable position he was in.

Sonya smiled.

They were both immobile for what Motaro felt was infinity but was in reality no more than two seconds. The Centaur was trying to balance himself on three legs as Sonya pulled hard to retain her grip on his fourth leg. Then, realizing it was not going to be resolved like a tug-of-war, they both reacted. Motaro swung a closed right fist which was aimed at her head. At the same time, Sonya released her right grip on his leg, and maintaining her left one, bent her right arm at the elbow. She swung downward on his knee with her right elbow as she saw his fist coming for her face. With all her strength and weight behind it, her elbow crashed into his knee when his fist was a mere six inches away from delivering a blow to her head. The Centaur's knee snapped and his left front leg broke in the direction opposite that of its natural bend.

The momentum in Motaro's fist carried itself on as pain overwhelmed the Centaur and he roared. His right fist impacted into her jaw, finally forcing her to let go of his broken leg. Sonya fell down on her side as Motaro, unable to cope with the sudden pain and the use of only three legs, crashed down on his side also. However, the human was able to stand up much faster as she intended to finish the fight and also to make him pay for the entire invasion. She rushed over and repeatedly and angrily kicked him in the head as he was still unable to get back up. She didn't care about the amount of blood she was losing as her right sneakers tore after the eighth kick she sent into his face.

Under the burden of her kicks, Motaro kept roaring in pain as he desperately pulled himself up to his feet. Once standing, he punched her in the head again. Sonya twisted around and dropped on the ground on her stomach before the Centaur fell back down again. Her endurance at the present time proving to be stronger than any punishment he could deliver, the human stood back up on her feet. She enjoyed seeing the fear in his eyes as he lay helplessly on his side. She told herself that it was something he was probably feeling for the first time.

The kombatant grabbed the Centaur by the horns, pulled his head up and then shoved his face downwards into the hard ground. She knew the invaders only used their horns to strike with and they never used the face, so she reasoned that it must've been painful for him. She lifted his dazed head up until she was able to look into his eyes. Having made eye contact for only a split second, she pushed his face into the ground for a second time. Motaro gasped in pain as his students were shocked at what they saw. None of them intervened, though, as the human lifted the chief Centaur's head up again, seeing blood on his forehead.

"This is for every single life lost to your goddamn invasion", Sonya angrily barked into his face, still retaining her grip on his horns, "Remember all of them".

With that, she used all her strength to send his face into the ground for a third time. Motaro stopped moaning after the third impact as some of his students gasped. The kombatant pulled his head up and let go of his horns when his human upper body was far enough from the ground that Motaro's face was only inches below her own.

"Die, great one!", she exclaimed as she turned her right hand into a fist.

Sonya's right fist crashed into Motaro's bloodied face as that one only had enough strength to see the blow coming. He fell down on his side after the impact and did not move. The kombatant knew he was dead after she kicked him in the head as a test and got no reflex. She then turned and faced his students, pointing at them as they were slowly backing away from her.

"Your leader has been defeated in single combat", she announced, panting and spitting out blood as she did, "I expect all of you to leave this realm at once. Pass the word".

Every one of Motaro's students lowered his head and left the parking lot without a word.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In Hong Kong, Jax was on the look-out as he drove the van and the night air seemed to get darker as time went on. He realized he was only imagining the scene losing whatever brightness it contained, since it obviously could not be getting more gloomy with time. Sensing that his eyes were getting heavier, the major looked towards his right at private Ellison, who was in the front passenger seat. That soldier appeared to still be wide awake, proving his endurance in battle. But again, Ellison had not been awake the previous night, as Jax had been, overlooking the shipment of Arols to all the American military bases in their quarter of the globe.

"Everything allright, sir?", Ellison eventually noticed the stare, indicating to Jax that he'd been looking at the private for a little to long.

"Yes, of course", Jax replied, turning his attention back to the road.

"Would you like me to take over as look-out?", the private then offered, "We should each get some kind of rest. I don't see this party ending when the sun comes up in a few hours, and we're going to be much more visible to the enemy then. We need to be alert by sunrise".

Jax thought to himself that the kid made sense. Still, he could not live with the idea of a major handing his responsibility over to a private.

"Thanks, but I'm fine", the major forced himself to reply, "You get some rest. When I feel like I can't go on like this, I'll let you know".

"Very well, sir", Ellison rested his head back on the seat, forcing his eyes shut in order to get the rest he knew he'd need once sunlight came.

Only a few seconds passed before Jax quickly stepped on the brakes, bringing the van to a sudden halt and persuading Ellison to open his eyes.

"What is it? What happened, boss?", both men heard a soldier asking from inside the van behind them.

Jax and Ellison were looking ahead at a straight line of six Centaurs as those blocked the street. Having a human vehicle being operated in the burning city was something that had caught the invaders' attention.

"We wanted to be found", Ellison swiftly gripped his Arol, "Now is the time to put our skill to use again".

"We got company", Jax declared so the troops behind him knew, "Six of them".

The major and the rest of the commandos grabbed their rocket launchers as well, looking forward to their next confrontation with the invaders. They had seen so sign of other human resistance all night long, almost as if the foreign soldiers were the only ones trying to fight back. Clearly, that could not have been the case, but some of the commandos had been heard mumbling under their breath as they kept finding themselves as the only ones pushing the invaders back.

"What a bunch of idiots", Ellison commented to himself as he opened the passenger side door, referring to the Centaurs, "They think they're in for a winning fight. They still don't even know what we have".

The back of the van was pushed open before eleven armed troops dashed out of it, ready for action once more. Liu and Kitana followed them from inside. The monk jumped down on the ground and stared at the line of six Centaurs that the soldiers rushed towards. Kitana could see unease on his face as he surveyed the situation.

"What is it?", the princess asked.

"Do you not find it strange that these Centaurs are making themselves so visible to the soldiers?" the monk turned to her, "It has been several hours since the onset of the invasion. The Centaurs should have been able to guess that the soldiers' vehicle would have been spotted by now. The invaders should have realized that the reason we are still here is because we destroyed our earlier adversaries. And then to just give us such a pathetic showdown? It seems careless".

As he and Kitana were still next to the van, they saw the thirteen soldiers forming a line about twenty yards away from the line of six invaders. The next sound the humans heard was a simultaneous scream as thirty more Centaurs made themselves visible from their dark hiding places. The thirty additional invaders slowly approached the humans, who just noticed they had been ambushed, as they formed a rough circle around the thirteen armed Earth natives. Liu and Kitana were not even noticed as the monk turned to her.

"Do as I say, Princess", Liu quickly whispered, "Operate the vehicle and drive it into one of the Centaurs. We need to create a diversion".

Kitana climbed inside the van from the back, rushing for the driver's seat. She positioned herself behind the wheel, fortunately realizing that Jax had never stopped the engine. She first placed the seat belt around her, strapping herself to the seat. She then hoped she was doing the right thing as she played with the controls of the vehicle.

Jax, on the other hand, turned around and swore at himself for not seeing the trap. He and his twelve soldiers formed a smaller circle within the larger one created by the advancing Centaurs. Even with two shells in each Arol, it would still leave at least ten unharmed Centaurs to fight when the soldiers were out of ammunition. The major was not about to go down without a fight, a feeling shared by each of his men, so they braced themselves for a physical showdown after the shoot-out.

"Open fire!", Jax ordered.

Thirteen rocket launchers fired at once, each aimed at a different adversary. The Centaurs who weren't hit the first time rushed towards the humans. Some of the charging invaders were cut down when the Arols fired their second and last shell. As the screams of the dying Centaurs echoed through the air and the ground was covered with a pool of the dead invaders' blood, the humans saw they had twelve Centaurs remaining. Jax dropped his weapon, realizing two soldiers had fired a shot into the same invader twice. The major promised himself to fix the problem if they all lived through this confrontation. The twelve Centaurs charged ahead, ready for a fight.

Jax rushed forward, meeting one adversary head-on before any of his troops met an invader. The Centaur was stopped cold in his tracks as he and the major collided. More than anything, the invader was surprised that a human had the audacity to challenge his strength in such a way. Without any thoughts on anything other than the fight at hand, Jax sent his right fist into the Centaur's stomach. That one bent down under the extremely painful impact, surprised that a human could possess such upper body strength. Jax then followed it with a forward straight thrust from his left arm. His left fist collided into the Centaur's face and snapped that one's head to the right. Without believing what was going on, the Centaur found himself involuntarily staggering to his right. Rushing towards his adversary, Jax then caught a glimpse of his van as it sped past him, heading towards his men as those already had their hands full.

The major charged towards the Centaur from that one's side and delivered a strong kick with his right leg into that one's lower horse-like part, between his front and hind legs. The fact that Jax was wearing steel-toed Army boots at the time only made the kick all the more painful as the invader's head snapped towards the sky and he roared in pain. Unable to cope, the Centaur dropped to the ground as the aching overwhelmed his lower half of the body and his four legs buckled. Jax continued by walking to the front of the Centaur and swinging his right arm. The invader braced himself as he saw the major's right fist flying through the air towards his face. Jax's knuckles crashed into the invader's jaw and knocked that one down on his side.

Ellison, on the other hand, was trying to figure out a way to try to fight the Centaur he saw charging towards him. As that one was within a few steps of the soldier, Ellison saw the van accelerating towards the Centaur from behind. The Centaur slowed down and curiously looked behind him a moment before the van crashed into his hind legs. His hind legs broke instantly as the van came to a sudden halt. The Centaur screamed out as his lower body met the ground. Ellison rushed towards the invader, turned his right hand into a fist and sent it into that one's chin as a swift uppercut. The Centaur's head snapped towards the sky, only intensifying the pain his lower body already felt. Stepping away to help his fellow soldiers, Ellison saw Kitana opening the driver's side door of the van and staggering out.

"Thank you", the soldier stated, unsure if she had even heard him, before he rushed away to help out the others.

Ellison ran towards a Centaur as that one held one of his comrades after already having beaten him unconscious. The invader held the defeated soldier in the air with his right grip, intending to deliver yet another blow with his left fist. Before he got a chance, Ellison jumped up, tackling his upper body from the left side. The force from the intruding soldier's tackle forced the Centaur to drop the beaten soldier as he was pushed downward and towards the right. The Centaur crashed on the ground on his right side, with Ellison attached to the left side of his torso. The soldier stood up first and kicked that one in the head, annoying him ever more.

As that happened, Ellison saw Liu flying past him in what appeared to be a horizontal line. The monk's extended right leg smashed into a nearby Centaur's chest and knocked that one down also. Liu then landed gracefully on his legs and delivered a roundhouse kick. The back of his ankle met the neck of another Centaur and knocked that one down on his side, freeing the soldier he was fighting with to concentrate on another invader.

Suddenly, all the remaining Centaurs stood up straight without even trying to fight against the humans. Jax, Liu and all the soldiers froze as they noticed that the invaders weren't resisting any more.

"What the hell are you doing?", major Briggs demanded, still in his stance, obviously not trusting the invaders.

Those seemed to be receiving a message from somewhere else through their minds. The Centaurs intently listened to the voice that only they heard telepathically. Then, all their faces lowered at once and they just walked away from the fight scene, leaving their dead comrades behind.

"Come again?", Ellison asked himself, not believing his eyes.

"They're retreating! They're retreating?", another soldier was heard.

Jax followed the path the invaders took. A bright portal opened in front of them and the surviving invaders simply walked into it without even looking back. All of a sudden, the humans were left alone with a large number of Centaur corpses.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once alone with Motaro's corpse and the bonfire that still raged on, Sonya left the parking lot and looked around for a street sign. Looking for a name in the darkness was bad enough without having a sharp pain in her head and stomach. Finally finding one, she remembered to the best of her abilities that the closest hospital was about half a mile away. It was thus possible that's where Rayden had taken Johnny and Scott. Hoping her memories served her correctly, she limped and staggered towards it.

She was glad when she eventually saw the entrance of the emergency room. Running towards it anxiously, she faltered through the main doors, still trying to stop the incessant bleeding from her mouth. Seeing her condition and her bloody clothes, a nurse dressed in white asked her if she needed help. Sonya didn't even hear her as she saw Johnny seated several steps away. The actor was bruised and bleeding also, but healthy overall with no injuries that wouldn't have healed with time.

"Where's Scott?", she asked, proceeding towards him as he stood up.

She wanted to go past him, but he grabbed her right upper arm and stopped her, which proved to be quiet easy to do.

"Sonya, stop", the actor advised.

"Let go of me!", she pulled her arm free, still panting, "Where is he? Where's Scott?".

"Sonya, listen", Johnny gently replied before he stopped.

She stopped also, staring into his eyes and trying hard to stand still. She told herself that she hated the sound of his voice.

"His spine was crushed. Some bones from his rib cage had pierced his lungs", the actor stopped again.

Sonya shook her head.

"No", she blurted out.

She saw for the first time how heavy his eyes seemed, as if he'd been crying.

"Sonya, he's gone", Johnny added, "There was nothing the doctor could do".

"No, goddamnit, no!", she stepped away from him, "He can't! Not now!".

"I'm really sorry", her fellow kombatant said, "Time of death was less than ten minutes ago".

"I want to see him", she quickly told him.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now", Johnny was trying to remain calm, "You've been...".

She didn't wait until he was finished making his statement as she turned away and headed for the operating room, although she had no idea whether or not the ninja was there. Understanding that the only reason she was here was because she had succeeded in killing Motaro, Johnny followed her in. She opened the door and saw that the disorganized room had two beds, one of them with a covered body lying on it.

"Do you want to be alone?", Johnny was right behind her.

"It doesn't matter", she remarked as she walked in.

The actor walked in also and closed the door as Sonya lifted the cover off the body's face. Surely enough, it was Scott. She had no reaction as she placed two fingers from her right hand on his throat. The truth finally set in and she gasped when she didn't feel a pulse. She began sobbing as she squatted next to the bed. She put her right arm on the ninja's chest and rested her head face-down on her elbow.

"He asked me to marry him", she uttered between cries, "I should've been here when he died... I should've been here".

"You can't do anything here", her fellow kombatant placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sonya stood up, still crying. She bent down and kissed the ninja on the lips before covering his face again. She walked out of the room trying to dry her eyes as he followed.

"I need some air", she gasped, still in tears, "You better stay here and get a doctor or something".

Johnny stayed behind as he watched her leave the hospital. The actor had to admit his chest and ankle hurt a lot, so getting some help for himself was the sensible thing to do. As he was about to take her advice and ask for assistance, he looked at the door which she had used to leave again.

Johnny limped towards and then out of the door, searching around the night air outside. The first thing he saw was an electronic sign overhead which flashed the time and the temperature. 1:43AM, 39F, 4C repeated incessantly as the kombatant combed the area. He finally spotted her as she was seated on the sidewalk behind an ambulance with her head down. Feeling the cold, the actor limped towards her, stopping on the sidewalk about a yard away without sitting down also.

"You want to talk?", Johnny asked, looking down at her.

Sonya lifted her head and only turned to him long enough to see who was addressing her. She then stared ahead and quietly shook her head. Johnny could still see fresh tears on her face as he sat down next to her and stared ahead also.

"I'm glad you were able to finish off Motaro", the actor said, looking at her.

"You two helped", she looked back at him.

He wrapped one arm around her shoulders as she wrapped her arm around his lower back in response. She then rested her face on his shoulder. Johnny remembered that he had lost someone who was, in some way or another, always on his side on the long run. From the raid on the House of Representatives all the way to the present time. The actor suddenly recalled the comment Scott had made when he was told that the kombatant planned to call someone to help them investigate whether or not Goro's specter had returned. "Who, the ghostbusters?" resonated through the actor's mind as he felt tears coming down his eyes as well.

"What?", Sonya lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him.

"Nothing, it's just ironic", Johnny replied, drying his eyes, "I came here to console _you_".

"Oooh", she turned and wrapped both arms around him.

They remained outside, trying to stay warm in the cold air and comforting each other.

XXXXXXXXXXEPILOGUEXXXXXXXXXXX

Scott gasped as he sat up, still wearing the black pants and tank top from his commando outfit. The image of Motaro was still in his mind as he opened his eyes and looked around, wondering where he was. It was bright, but he could see no floor nor a ceiling, although was a obviously lying on a hard, comfortable surface. The ninja sat up completely as he turned to his right, seeing Rayden as the deity was squatted next to him.

"Scott, you are dead", the thunder god told him, "As the protector of the realm of Earth, I will guide you to Hades. You will find rest there".

The god stood up and offered his hand. Scott gripped it and was pulled up to his feet. The ninja felt fine and didn't see any injuries on him. He was nervous as he walked towards an unknown destination with the god by his side. They walked for a few seconds until they reached the shore of a crystal-clear river. Scott could see through the water, but the ground under the water was still invisible. Looking ahead, the ninja saw a small wooden boat being operated by a skeleton dressed only in a piece of cloth.

"Oh, God...", the ninja recoiled.

"Everything will be allright", Rayden assured, "Hades is only here to help you reach your resting place. You will be allright".

Rayden and Hades locked eyes, communicating nonverbally for a few moments before Hades nodded. The thunder god then looked at the ninja.

"The boat is yours", he told that one.

"So that's it?", the ninja asked, "This is how it ends?".

"Life never ends, Scott", Rayden let him know, "You are simply going to the second and final stage, where you will be able to rest after your efforts on the Earth realm".

"Oh, well...", Scott stopped briefly, "Thanks for everything".

"It was my pleasure", the thunder god bowed, "Be strong, Scott".

Rayden vanished. Scott then hesitantly climbed into Hades' boat. The new god took him for a ride across the clear river. The ride lasted less than five minutes, but Scott spent the entire time looking up at the bright, sparkling sky above.

"Wow, it's beautiful", the ninja commented.

"Yes it is", Hades flatly replied in a neutral voice.

The boat soon anchored at the shore of another land.

"This is your stop", Hades told him.

"OK, thanks for the ride", Scott said, stepping off the side of the boat and securing is feet on the dark ground below.

The land he saw was familiar. After all, it was the same one he had visited earlier in order to train with Durak. The bright sky and the relatively dark ground felt like home. The first sound the ninja heard was a familiar voice from behind him.

"Look who's here".

Hearing it, Scott turned around. Durak approached him with Lee at his side.

"I knew you'd be coming soon, but I didn't think my training would get you killed _that_ quickly", the large Shokanite grinned.

"Hey, Lee, you OK?", the ninja asked what sounded like a dumb question.

"Just fine", Lee told him.

"Now that you're a permanent resident, you can use this land's resources", Durak said, "Just like we can".

"Really?", Scott placed his right thumb and index fingers together.

When he separated them, a red rose appeared in his hand.

"Supercool!", the ninja smiled.

He remembered where the rose had come from. It was his memories from the Earth realm, of Sonya, Johnny, Liu and Jax. His smile faded and he felt sad all of a sudden since he realized he had left them all behind.

"Do not worry about your friends", Durak advised, recognizing the expression on the ninja's face, "They are fine and Motaro's dead. Relax and enjoy your surroundings. You will see your friends soon enough".

The Shokanite patted him lightly on the back. Trying to cheer up, Scott turned and saw someone else next to him. It was a young man, definitely younger than him, with short blond hair. Scott told himself that the stranger had a face that reminded him of Sonya, but it wasn't her.

"Wait a sec", the ninja grinned, "I've never seen a picture of you, but I bet I know who you are. You're Danny, am I right?".

"Nobody has called me 'Danny' in ages", the stranger proved him right, "And you're the guy who tried to... replace me?".

"Yeah, I guess I am", Scott kept grinning as they shook hands.

"I always thought you'd be the first guy at my funeral that I'd see here", the ninja heard next.

He turned to see lieutenant Richards, whose death he still remembered at Kano's hands.

"Rich?", Scott couldn't believe his eyes, "Man! It's been forever!".

"Yes it has", Richards briefly wrapped an arm around him.

"And this here is Kung Lao", Durak pointed at another man in a blue outfit who wore what Scott would've guessed to be a Mexican sombrero, except that it wasn't.

"He was the Earth realm's champion that Goro faced five centuries ago", Durak explained.

"It's an honor", Scott extended his right hand.

"The same", Kung Lao replied, gripping it, "I must admit I am looking forward to spending time with you".

XXXXXXXXXXEPILOGUE 2XXXXXXXXX

Motaro woke up in total pain. He could feel his body being healed from the inside. He groaned as he staggered to his feet. The only two people he saw in the chamber were Shao Kahn, who was seated on a throne, and Shang Tsung, who stood next to that one.

"Oh, does that hurt?", Shao Kahn asked, as if he was addressing a mere child.

Both the emperor and the sorcerer smiled, wishing to make the Centaur pay for all the stress he put them through.

"You said you'd conquer the Earth realm? How pathetic!", Shao Kahn exclaimed, "You couldn't even wipe out the kombatants as you claimed. And you lost to a woman!".

"I know of Sonya, my emperor", Shang Tsung spoke up, "There is no shame in losing to her".

The sorcerer then turned his attention at the Centaur.

"But still, the extent to which you failed will be told in legends for centuries to come, I imagine", the demon sorcerer continued, enjoying himself, "Your invasion force has already retreated back to its own realm, admitting defeat".

"Damn you!", Motaro roared, charging at them.

"Calm yourself", Shang Tsung quickly ordered.

Not knowing why, the Centaur stopped in his tracks and quieted down.

"I knew your Centaurs wouldn't accomplish anything with their stupid beliefs", emperor Kahn continued, "I told you I should have been in charge of you and your army".

"My emperor has graciously given you your life force back", Shang Tsung icily smiled, "You have a choice. Choice one, you can finally agree to be one of us, in which case you, and all your students, will be under my emperor's control. Or choice two, where master Kahn, who was so generous just now, can take your life force back".

Shang Tsung's smile faded.

"In which case you will go back to being a corpse", the sorcerer added, "What will it be?".

Seeing as to how he had no choice, Motaro bowed his upper body.

"Kneel", Shang Tsung ordered.

The Centaur did as he was told, never taking his eyes away from either individual. Seeing it, Shao Kahn stood up.

"Now, my second-in-command, let us talk", the emperor approached Motaro.


	8. Final Confrontation 8

During the ninth tournament, the enthusiastic screams from the large crowd brought back many memories, most of them bad. Sheeva closed her eyes in an effort to force the memories to return into the dark abyss of her conscience from where they had emerged. She stood quietly outside the immediate perimeter of the large ring, watching the occurrences inside of the circle even though she wasn't even remotely interested in them. The howls and cheers still reverberated clearly in her head as she shut out the images of the battle, or what some would call the slaughter, which took place in the ring...

Fighting her recollections of the past, Sheeva grudgingly saw herself at the tender age of half a century. It was then that she was orphaned. It was then that agents acting on behalf of the Prince of Shokan had burst into her parents' cave looking for what they believed were insurgents. She first recalled how the fire that had been started by her father in the cave was creating dancing shadows on the natural walls since it was nighttime. She had tried to fight. But an inexperienced female Shokanite who still had decades to grow before reaching maturity proved to be no match for the first agent who arrived close enough to lunge at her father. Less than six feet tall and weighing about 200 pounds, she had foolishly tried to restrain him the only way she knew how, by wrapping all four arms around his upper back from behind. The eight-foot tall giant had barely felt her weight pressed against him since he was so adamant on reaching her father instead. Hearing her cry out in fear probably indicated to him that he was facing resistance before he even felt her pathetic attempts to pull him backwards. The lead Shokanite stopped for a split second as his comrades ran past him to ensure that the wanted betrayers did not escape. He then reached behind him with his upper right hand and firmly wrapped his three large fingers around her throat. She instantly felt his hand as it nearly crushed her windpipe. The stark terror of not being able to breath lasted for only an instant, but it felt more like minutes from Sheeva's point of view. She did not have to worry about it much since she next felt herself being hurled from the giant's back towards the cavern wall thirty steps away. She must have screamed again, though she didn't hear herself, before she slammed into the stone obstacle.

Green blood erupted from her face as she stumbled and then fell down on her knees, feeling dizzy. Turning around on her knees and looking up, she saw three Shokanites punching and kicking her father mercilessly as he lay motionless on the ground, probably unconscious. At the same time, two other Shokanites were busy beating her mother. The dim light from the fire was enough for her to see her mother's neck snap sharply in the wrong direction as she received a brutal roundhouse punch from one of her attackers' upper arms. She knew at that instant that her mother was dead. Gasping, Sheeva turned her attention back to her father, though afraid of what she might see. He was lying in a pool of his own blood as the three Shokanites had finally stopped their onslaught against him. One of his assailants then calmly withdrew a spear which was shorter than him. He pointed the tip of the spear downward, just a few inches away from the back of her father's head. Sheeva wanted to scream again. She opened her mouth, but no sound came forth. She was still mute when she saw a yellow bolt shooting out of the spear's tip. Her father's head exploded upon impact with the bolt and his body remained on the ground, quivering involuntarily for a few moments before stopping forever.

"Let this be a warning for all who dare defy our great prince Goro", the head Shokanite announced to no one in particular in as proud a manner as possible.

Sheeva next felt all ten eyes boring towards her. She was still down on her knees and staring at the two corpses which used to be her parents as the five Shokanites approached. Her face wound still bled profusely, sending blood running down her cheeks until the result was an increasing amount of green stains on the ground next other knees. She didn't think of standing up as the larger intruders advanced.

"And you!", the head Shokanite angrily pointed at her, his red eyes glowing brightly in the darkness, "How _dare_ you try to interfere?".

She looked up into their faces in a clockwise motion as they formed a semi-circle around her.

"We were to leave you be", the head Shokanite went on, "But that was before you forced us to make an example out of you".

Grabbing her upper left arm, one of the giants pulled her up to her feet.

"Bring her!", the head Shokanite pointed towards the fire that still lit the inside of the cave.

Two Shokanites, one on each side, quietly delivered her towards the burning pile of wood as the heat from it became more intense the closer they got.

"Do not worry", the head Shokanite gave a sadistic smile, "Burns heal with time".

Sheeva's eyes widened when she finally realized what the giants had in mind. She shrieked and tried to pull back, but her efforts were nowhere near what was needed to counter the pull of the two Shokanites. Once next to the blaze, the intruder on her left gripped her left upper elbow and made eye contact with the Shokanite on her right, nonverbally telling him to retain a strong grip on the young female. The next thing Sheeva felt was intense pain as she saw her left upper forearm being thrust into the flame. She screamed again...

Sheeva opened her eyes wide while the recall of her past scream as a youngster blended with the present screams from the crowd. She did not know why she had remembered the night of her parents' death again, perhaps it was because she was currently watching the Prince of Shokan in the ring. It was the same prince who had ordered her parents' death when she was such a vulnerable Shokanite.

Though life had been hard, she was obviously not the same female she had been on that painful night two centuries ago. Sheeva now stood strong at over seven feet tall and weighing more than 300 pounds of muscle. Despite her physique, she knew she still would not be able to beat Goro in a fair fight, nor did she have the desire to. Thoughts of revenge had quickly left her mind after she discovered that her parents had expressed doubt about Goro's ability to rule the realm of Shokan along with his new human ally. Such disrespect simply could not be tolerated and she now understood why her parents had to be killed.

After all, she told herself, Goro was the prince and it was the duty of every Shokanite to give him total allegiance. She just wished the humans from the realm of Earth would finally accept the Shokan prince's natural superiority instead of trying to fight him every generation. Ever since she could remember, the tournament of Mortal Kombat had pitted some brave, or possibly crazy, human warriors against Goro and the result was always the same. It was inconceivable to think that the humans detested Goro that much, but yet they did. Sheeva had heard that, at the present time, a conflict had just taken place in the realm of Earth and that was the reason why two of the remaining Earth fighters did not like the third one very much. Despite their differences, however, all three warriors had decided to work together against the ruling champion of Mortal Kombat.

Sheeva chuckled to herself thinking of the pathetic resistance most humans would put up once in the ring with the Prince of Pain. As the fighting in the circle raged on, she tried to imagine how much of a damage these humans could inflict if they wanted to hurt each other. The war that had taken place in the Earth realm could not have been very brutal, or else the three humans she was looking at would not have allied against Goro. She recalled that, in Earth time, the year was 1946 and the three human warriors came from different backgrounds. Before the match, she remembered being told that Schultz was born in a country called Germany while Louis was from another country called France. Both Schultz and Louis were of average height and built when it came to human standards, but the third, Arkin, was bigger. He was apparently from the island of Australia and his appearance was somewhat of a surprise when Sheeva had seen him for the first time. Arkin was almost as tall as she was and fairly muscular. It was this seven-foot tall human who was now in the ring against Goro while Schultz and Louis watched from the sidelines like her.

Despite Arkin's relatively large physique when it came to comparing him to other humans, he still appeared to be a dwarf next to Goro. At the current time, the battle was not going well for the Australian, not that it was a surprise for anyone watching. Goro swung his upper left arm and his massive fist crashed into Arkin's face, breaking the human's jaw before he fell on the floor, exhausted and beaten. The crowd which consisted of Shokanites and Shang Tsung's human servants grew wilder as Arkin wasn't able to stand back up.

Turning her head towards the left, Sheeva caught a glimpse of Rayden, the protector of the realm of Earth. She found herself being thankful that she didn't have his responsibilities since his mission was doomed to fail no matter how hard he tried to train his fighters. The deity was dressed in white, as usual, and still wore a straw hat as he pressed his jaw shut. He was obviously disappointed at the result. Turning her head towards the right, Sheeva then stared at Shang Tsung, seated on his throne with a slight grimace on his face and anxiously waiting to own the soul of Goro's latest victim.

Goro bent down and gripped Arkin's throat with his upper right hand. He then easily lifted the human back up to a standing position. No one in the audience knew what the Shokan prince was planning for a moment, but his intentions soon became clear. Goro lifted his own head up and backwards, getting ready to crash his forehead into the human's dazed face. In Arkin's current condition, the headbutt would've almost surely meant his death, and that was the whole point. The crowd quieted down, waiting to cheer loudly as soon as the death blow was delivered, and Shang Tsung impatiently stared at his prize pupil, awaiting Arkin's soul.

Before Goro was able to deliver the headbutt, a scream emanated from just outside the ring. Louis, the warrior from France, bolted into the ring in a desperate effort to save Arkin's life. Such interference was expressly forbidden in the tournament and everyone involved knew it.

"No!", Rayden exclaimed as he saw one of his fighters rushing into the circle.

"Don't!", Schultz also raised his voice, trying unsuccessfully to restrain Louis from behind.

The deity's and the German fighter's caution was for a good reason because Louis was met in the ring by three of Shang Tsung's servants who also rushed in when they saw his actions. The three servants were armed with simple metal spears while Louis was unarmed. The human from Earth was a handful of yards away from Goro when the three servants collided with him. He swung with a left fist, his knuckles slamming hard into the jaw of the left-most servant. His opponent, though dazed, did not lose the grip on the spear. The next scene Louis saw was all three of his adversaries reacting as one. They pushed forward with their spears, each aimed into the same target area of his midsection. The French fighter crashed down on his knees as he looked at the three spears that had entered through his stomach and then exited out of his lower back. He spit out blood before falling on his right side dead. A pool of blood gathered around him as Schultz watched in horror, though knowing he could not interfere either.

"Enough interruptions!", Shang Tsung spoke up from his throne, addressing Goro, "Finish him!".

Goro grunted and swung his head forward. His forehead crashed into Arkin's face and an explosion of blood followed. Goro then released the human's neck and Arkin's lifeless body fell on the floor a short distance away from Louis. The crowd went wild again as Shang Tsung stood up. The sorcerer raised his right forearm as he fixed his gaze on the bodies of both Arkin and Louis.

"Both your souls are mine", he hissed.

Sheeva saw Arkin's and Louis' corpses glowing red before the sorcerer forced their soul out of them. Everyone in the audience witnessed Shang Tsung pulling at the two helpless souls through the air before both souls flew towards him and each entered one of his eyes. The sorcerer raised his arms, feeling more powerful than ever. Amid the screams and cheers of Goro's name, Sheeva calmly looked at Schultz. The German fighter was the last surviving human in this ninth Mortal Kombat. He was next against Goro.

Schultz seemed to be calm when Rayden ushered him away from the ring and the dispersing crowd. Sheeva kept watching him intently, mainly because she had nothing else to do on Shang Tsung's island. She thought to herself that Schultz must've been nervous at best and scared nearly to death at worst, but the German fighter was probably a good actor. The female Shokanite eyed the pair until the deity led the human away from the main room and into an adjacent hallway. Rayden had rested his right arm around Schultz's shoulders as the two whispered about their future plans. The last thing Sheeva saw before they both disappeared around a corner was the human warrior rubbing his own forehead hard with his right hand. She told herself that she was right, the human was scared.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The last match was a few short hours later. On an official basis, it was not supposed to be the last fight of the tournament, for if Schultz had emerged victorious against Goro, then he would be scheduled to meet the demon sorcerer Shang Tsung in single combat next. But on an unofficial basis, everyone watching knew the tiny human did not stand a chance against the Shokanite. Schultz was already in the ring, his back turned to the inside of the circle as he had gripped the rope surrounding the circle and was bent down so his forehead nearly touched his knuckles. Rayden stood quietly a short distance away as the last human fighter seemed to be trying to devote his entire concentration to the task at hand.

Sheeva spent quite some time wondering about what was going through Schultz's mind at the moment when the moderate cheers from the crowd indicated the arrival of his opponent. She knew the only way to know for sure would've been to walk up to the human and talk to him, perhaps like a commander in a war talking to his or her troops right before a suicide mission. She only considered the option for a moment before dismissing it. Shokanites did not take kindly to seeing a member of their race associating with a member of an inferior people. The ludicrous idea was forgotten just as the cheers from the crowd suddenly increased by a factor of ten.

"GORO! GORO! GOROOOO!" was all she heard from the high-spirited audience.

The eight and a half-foot tall Prince of Pain made his appearance as he slowly marched towards the ring, raising all four of his arms towards the ceiling. An ear-splitting scream followed from Goro as his voice single-handedly managed to draw out the shouts and cheers of the dozens of humans and Shokanites in the audience. Almost everyone was screaming at the moment. In fact, it appeared as if the only quiet beings in the area were Schultz, Rayden, Sheeva and Shang Tsung, who watched the course of the scheduled battle from several steps away. Schultz stood up straight and turned around, an eerie calmness having taken over his facial expression. He saw the huge Shokanite champion as that one entered the circle and stood on the side opposite his own. Turning his head towards Rayden, the human kombatant and the deity bowed to each other in mutual respect before he walked into the middle of the large ring. Goro's menacing eyes seemed to drill into Schultz's face. In many other situations, such a stare from a much larger opponent would've been enough to destroy the confidence and spirit of a fighter, but the human's peacefulness did not falter.

"Begin!", the demon sorcerer declared from his throne.

Goro grunted and was able to take one step forward towards the middle of the ring before Schultz unexpectedly yelled a battle cry and flew into the air to meet him first. The human's extended leg crashed into the Shokanite's stomach hard and sent Goro staggering backwards before he was stopped bluntly by the ropes from behind. Still on his feet and not even dazed, the Prince of Pain swung with his upper right arm as he saw the human landing on his feet. Schultz ducked and Goro's fist met air as the roar from the crowd rang in both fighters' ears. The human quickly stood up and delivered a punch with his right fist directed into the same spot of Goro's stomach where his foot had impacted a moment ago. The tiny human put all his energy into his right arm, but the Shokanite barely even felt the blow. Before Schultz was even able to withdraw his right arm, the Prince of Pain swung with his upper left arm and the human was now unable to react in time. Goro's fist collided with his opponent's head and sent the human staggering backwards before he lost his balance and fell down on his hands and knees.

The crowd roared louder as Sheeva quietly stared at the damaged human in the center of the ring. If her race wasn't a sworn enemy of his, she might have actually felt sorry for him. Goro marched towards his downed opponent, expecting to finish the fight with a second blow. Contrary to his and everyone else's belief, Shultz managed to shakily stand back up. From three steps away, the human rushed forward and drove his lowered shoulder into the Shokanite's stomach, stopping the Prince's walk, though again without being able to hurt him. Annoyed at his adversary's resilience, Goro tried to swing with his upper right fist again, only to realize that the human was still the faster of the two. Shultz stepped away from him and swung to his own left, kicking out with his right leg. His right foot was solidly planted into the Shokanite's stomach and actually managed to force his opponent to bend down under the impact. The human took advantage of Goro's lowered position and delivered a high roundhouse punch into the Shokanite's head. The back of the German fighter's knuckles met his opponent's jaw and sharply snapped Goro's head in one direction.

Unfortunately for the human, the four-armed reigning champion was still unhurt. Goro quickly managed to stand back up to his full height before sending yet another fist towards his adversary's head. The three giant fingers on his fist bluntly punched Schultz in the face area, since the size of the Shokanite's fist were large enough to allow him to not have to worry about the accuracy of his hits. Blood erupted from the young human's nose and mouth as he felt his teeth shattering under the impact. The last remaining human of the ninth Mortal Kombat fell down on the floor and landed hard on his back. He could barely stay conscious as he looked up and saw Goro raising his four arms into the air and crying out in victory. Schultz couldn't hear anything by that moment. He saw his opponent and the audience members yelling out, but no sounds registered in his ears.

Seeing that his puny opponent was still alive on the floor, Goro then lowered his arms and hissed as he looked down at the last defeated human. Shang Tsung slowly stood from his throne amid the cheers and pointed at the Shokanite prince.

"Finish him!", the sorcerer ordered.

Goro opened his mouth and gave a scream that shook the walls and easily drowned out everyone else's voice. The members of the audience calmed down when they realized the fury that had engulfed the Prince of Pain. Goro jumped up and towards the direction on the floor where the human lay helplessly. His 550 pound body landed feet-first on Schultz's stomach and chest. Pints of blood erupted from the human's head and torso as he was instantly crushed under the Shokanite's weight. The crowd roared in approval again as Shang Tsung proceeded to take the human's soul like he had done a countless number of times before.

Goro next proceeded to step off the bloody cadaver which used to be Schultz, raised his arms into the air and roared in victory again. Sheeva wondered why he was cheering so much. She reasoned that, after all, the human was much braver coming into this fight than Goro had been. So she couldn't understand why the Shokanite felt so proud of himself for killing someone who was half his size. She next looked in the direction where Rayden stood silently. She thought that the expression on his face would have to be described as disappointment again, and perhaps sorrow for the pain that the humans under his guidance had suffered.

The crowd slowly dispersed. The ninth Mortal Kombat was over. Goro walked out of the ring, heading towards his private quarters on the island. Before exiting the area, he turned to Rayden and pointed towards the deity with one of his left upper fingers.

"Better luck next time, god!", the Prince of Pain spoke up with clear sarcasm in his voice.

The reigning champion made the remark in a loud enough manner so everyone in the area would hear him. Rayden did not respond. He only returned the Shokanite's glance as Shang Tsung addressed the deity in his own turn, though using icy politeness rather than sarcasm.

"He speaks the truth, lord Rayden", the sorcerer remarked, "You only have one more tournament to go. And then...".

Shang Tsung did not bother to finish his statement. Everyone in the audience already knew the consequences of losing ten Mortal Kombats in a row.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Half a century after the ninth Mortal Kombat tournament, Sheeva found herself in the only realm she could ever call home, which was the realm of Shokan. She and many other Shokanites had known of the occurrences of the tenth tournament, she had even considered asking the sorcerer Shang Tsung to watch it on his island. In the end, though, she had decided against the idea. All the previous tournaments had been the same, with new warriors coming from Earth, being led by the deity called Rayden and then being destroyed by Goro. Being honest to herself, she realized that the tournament was boring her, so she had made up her mind to stay in her home realm with the others this time.

She couldn't totally remember what was on her mind when the news came. She knew where she was, and with whom. She and other Shokanites, both male and female, were readying for the ritual exercises that keep all Shokanites, young and old, in prime condition. The workout consisted of both natural and artificial barriers. An example of the former was to cross the width of the pits which surrounded the civilized nation of Shokan without boarding a floating ship or using a portal. Children as young as thirty years of age were forced to partake in this natural exercise. Simply reaching the other side of the pit and getting out alive took skill since one was sure to encounter a roaming band of mutants three or four times, or perhaps even as often as a dozen times, during the journey. One mutant alone was not much of a threat to a Shokanite, since the largest mutant ever encountered was about as large as Sheeva herself. The challenge was that mutants almost always traveled in packs ranging from ten to a hundred members. Every mutant also had a pair of razor-sharp blades, one embedded into each forearm, which were about a yard long. Thus, crossing the width of the pit alive was an experience that was sure to hone one's fighting skills, and it was believed that any Shokanite who didn't survive the experience wasn't worthy of the name to begin with.

As she was readying to depart from the others, a well-known eight-foot tall male Shokanite, Bakro, had approached them. Bakro seemed to be confused, as if something was weighing on his mind, though most of the individuals in the group did not notice. As he came closer, his facial expression nonverbally told everyone that he brought bad news. Sheeva noticed everyone quieting down as they finally recognized the solemn look on Bakro's face.

"I... I have just received word from Shang Tsung's island", Bakro started in a shaky voice, "Goro, our Prince, is dead".

Just about everyone in the group gasped simultaneously at the horrifying news. Sheeva could remember that she suddenly felt sick to her stomach and couldn't breath for several instants. Though she could not verbally answer, one of her fellow warriors managed to utter a phrase in response.

"Dead! How?", the Shokanite blurted out, still in shock.

"He was defeated in single combat by one of the last human survivors of the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament", Bakro grimly continued.

Sheeva asked herself how a human could've possibly been strong enough or possess the endurance to kill the Prince of Shokan. The mere thought was inconceivable.

"Impossible!", another Shokanite answered.

"Shang Tsung was killed in the tournament also", Bakro added, "I do not know the details of the battle. But whichever course it followed, the humans were the victors and Goro and Shang Tsung are dead... Emperor Kahn cannot be pleased with us over this, and in the tenth and last tournament of all times".

"Does his brother know?", the same Shokanite asked the messenger.

"No", Bakro stopped, "It is my duty to tell him and I have only arrived here from the island. I am on my way to see him presently".

With those words, Bakro left the group and proceeded towards Kintaro's lair. Goro's younger brother would not be pleased, but it was Bakro's obligation as official emissary to emperor Shao Kahn and his servant Shang Tsung to bring him the news.

Realizing the routine exercises would be canceled in view of the current situation, Sheeva decided to head towards Kintaro's cave also. After Goro, Kintaro was the strongest Shokanite around, easily being Goro's equal. He had agreed to let his brother have the title of Prince of Shokan since Goro was the older of the two, but now that Goro was dead, the realm of Shokan would need a new leader. Kintaro was famous for having a violent temper, but Sheeva was intent on knowing what his first orders would be for her race.

After waiting several minutes to let Bakro bring Kintaro up to date, Sheeva headed towards the home of the one who would most likely be the next leader under emperor Kahn. Once arriving at the entrance of the cave, she heard a roar emanating from inside followed by a loud crash. She recognized the roar as Kintaro's voice and the crash as one of his fists punching the natural wall of the cave. She thought of turning around and leaving, but her curiosity finally got the better of her and she decided to risk going inside. Her eyes needed a few seconds to adjust to the darkness in the cave, but after that, she could see the sharp edges of the rocks on the walls. She proceeded deeper inside towards a fire she could see, hoping she could calm Kintaro down.

It took Sheeva only instants before she ran into the large Shokanite. Ignoring her presence, Kintaro roared again and punched the nearest wall with his right upper fist, loosening several pieces of stone. A few steps away from him lay the lifeless body of Bakro. From the angle of his upper back, Sheeva guessed that Kintaro had broken the messenger's spine in a fit of rage. Despite the evidence of his incessant fury, Sheeva came closer to the Shokanite who was a foot and a half taller and hundreds of pounds heavier than her. Kintaro realized she was approaching him despite his behavior. He must have been impressed since he stopped his violent demeanor.

"Are you our new leader?", she asked him first, disregarding Bakro's body since a mere messenger's death was not a serious loss.

"Yes", Kintaro grunted for a response as he pointed towards Bakro's corpse, "He said the emperor Kahn hand-picked me to be my brother's successor".

There was a brief silence as both Shokanites locked eyes.

"His training was pathetic", Kintaro continued, still pointing at Bakro's body, "All this time with Shang Tsung made him soft. He could not even offer adequate resistance when I attacked him".

"He can be replaced", Sheeva quickly replied about the dead messenger, "What are our priorities?".

"Emperor Kahn wants us to report to the wizard Tsung's island because there is some labor to be done", Kintaro answered, "At least this waste of a Shokanite could remember a lot of messages that were to be delivered".

"When do we leave?", was her next question since she felt confident enough that Kintaro would not attack at the present time if he hadn't already.

"Immediately", the new leader grunted, "And afterwards, I will HAVE MY REVENGE!".

With those words, Kintaro punched the wall again.

"The humans who did this will pay", he then whispered.

"We will not rest until they do", Sheeva agreed in a cold voice.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The army of more than six thousand Shokanites took a few minutes to arrive at Shang Tsung's island through the many portals that Shao Kahn had created. Once on the deserted island, the first thing Sheeva felt was the cool breeze that had engulfed the place. There was no sign of the previous people who had been there. The servants who were under Shang Tsung were presently reclaimed by emperor Kahn and the Earth realm warriors had already gone back home.

The lady Shokanite wasn't allowed to enjoy the scenery for very long because she was suddenly struck hard in the back of the head. She staggered three steps forward under the strong blow before being able to turn around to face her attacker. She instantly recognized him as one of Kintaro's newly-selected officers. The giant Shokanite pointed at her, his angry facial expression indicating he was not pleased.

"Get to work!", the officer barked at her, "You are not here for amusement!".

Without waiting for a reply from her, he then pointed to his left. Following his direction, Sheeva saw a line of Shokanites as each one carried a single cube of stone, each side of which was about a yard long. Emperor Kahn was dismantling a structure on this island before sending it through the portal to be rebuilt in his own castle.

Sheeva rubbed the back of her head with her upper left hand. It would have been a suicide move to retaliate against the Shokanite who had struck her since resisting an officer was considered an act of treason, which in turn was punishable by death. So she suppressed her urges to charge towards and attack the larger individual. With her eyes locked on him, she grunted and proceeded towards the direction of the workers to pick up and transport her share of the stone through the portal.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Things were slowly returning to normal in the Earth realm after the failed invasion by the Centaurs. Many people were doing a good job of putting that fateful night when the invasion began and was repelled in approximately seven to eight hours. A few individuals seemed to have forgotten it altogether, as was evident by the emergency that general Marckena of the US Army Special Forces was facing. The general was seated alone in his office, hoping that the actions that had been allowed would not result in dire consequences.

"Dear general", he read the letter out loud to himself for what felt like the thousandth time, "Taking into account the fact that five weeks of negotiations have failed with the terrorists, the president has signed a waiver allowing the US government to use the Army Special Forces in a domestic situation. As you already know, the terrorists are holding 22 hostages and are well-armed. That is why we preferred not to use the local police in the effort to release the hostages by force and are now turning to you. We would appreciate it if you assigned a team from the Army Special Forces to a commander in order to neutralize the city block where the terrorists are barricaded".

General Marckena stopped reading the letter. He set it down on the desk and rubbed his forehead.

"I can't believe he said she was the best he had", he whispered to himself, meaning the colonel who had come from a tour of duty in Hong Kong and advised him, "God! Why couldn't he have given me someone more stable? I hope she doesn't screw up. She better not screw up".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The machine gun fire reverberated in Sonya's ears as she and four other Special Forces troops ducked behind the burned car. From thirty yards away, three masked men were firing their AK-47's at them without even bothering to take cover. Her blond hair swung wildly from behind her as she twisted her face around to eye each of the four men since it was tied in a tail at the back of her head.

"NUMBER ONE, TAKE THE LEFT, NUMBER TWO, TAKE THE RIGHT!", she yelled to be heard above the sound of the enemies' bullets, "NUMBERS THREE AND FOUR, FOLLOW ME!".

Every other Special Forces member at the scene was armed with an M-16 rifle, but she thought she could do better. Instead, Sonya had left the rifle behind and had replaced it with two 9mm Glocks, one in each hand, as they neared the forsaken block. The police and other emergency crews had withdrawn when the SF vans arrived, giving the soldiers room to attack without having to worry about hitting members of the local authorities.

The rate that the AK-47's were being fired against them was slowing down, indicating to her that the three terrorists were running out of ammunition. Her belief was soon proven correct because two out of the three masked men stopped firing altogether since their weapons were empty. They rushed back inside the first building of the block which was overtaken five weeks ago. The two men whose weapons were useless ran inside first, with the third one lagging a few steps behind them since he wanted to empty his clip on the invaders as well. As the first two men vanished inside, Sonya became the first to lift her head and arms over the hood of the car they were using as cover. The third terrorist saw her and aimed in her direction, hoping to get lucky with the last several bullets in his AK-47. He squeezed the trigger of his weapon as she leveled both pistols towards him. His aim was not accurate since the last bullets from his machine gun punctured the trunk of the car, missing her by several feet.

"TOUGH GUUUUUUUUY!", was her loud response as she squeezed both triggers at once, firing three bullets from each handgun.

All six rounds tore into the terrorist's chest and stomach as he cried out. An explosion of red appeared on his shirt as he lost the grip on his empty weapon and was thrown backwards into the air. His back slammed against the wall of the first building behind him before he slowly slid towards the ground, leaving red streaks on the wall behind him. The five Special Forces soldiers were rushing past him and into the first building before he had even come to rest on the ground.

Following the two gunmen, it didn't take Sonya and the four men following her to reach the inner auditorium of the first building. It was there that intelligence had guessed the hostages were being held. Surely enough, the five troops rushed into the large room and came face-to-face with seven masked terrorists and several hostages. Hurried footsteps were pursuing the five soldiers from a few yards behind. Within seconds, the seven terrorists found themselves confronting five more Special Forces troops who had tailed Sonya and her team. Private Ellison was one the members in the second team as the ten soldiers aimed their M-16's, or in Sonya's case her two Glocks, towards the masked adversaries. Only one terrorist was courageous enough to try to raise his AK-47. His bravery was rewarded by a burst of gunfire from two members of the second team as they shot the lone man in the head and heart. The terrorist shrieked and fell on the floor dead in a pool of blood as some of the hostages screamed. The remaining six terrorists threw their AK-47's on the floor and promptly raised their hands into the air.

"You folks OK?", Sonya asked the hostages as she approached the six masked men with both handguns still trained on them.

As the leader of the attack force, it was her responsibility to find out if any of the hostages needed medical attention. The lack of a response indicated to her that they were unhurt. Three soldiers from behind her rushed ahead and promptly began handcuffing the six men.

"Wait a minute!", one of the soldiers in the first team spoke up, "There were 22 hostages! There are just 14 here. Where are the other eight?".

Sonya quickly surveyed the frightened hostages, confirming the warning in her mind. One of the terrorists who was about to be handcuffed chuckled under his mask. Sonya walked towards him and quickly pulled his mask off, looking into his eyes with an icy stare.

"Our patriots took the eight others", the man laughed, unshaken by her actions, "They all snuck out right from under your noses last week and you didn't even see it! Those hostages will die and their blood will be on your hands".

The terrorist laughed some more, but his delighted facial expression was erased when Sonya lifted one of her Glocks and pointed its muzzle towards his forehead.

"No, it won't", she answered him, "But yours will. Where were the hostages taken?".

"Go to hell", the unmasked man whispered.

It was not the reply Sonya was waiting for, and every moment spent in the building was giving the terrorists who had snuck out more time to kill the hostages they had taken with them. She pulled the trigger of the handgun once and the unmasked terrorist's forehead exploded, staining her face and chest with his blood. Ellison gasped at her actions and some of the hostages screamed again. With the man's body lying on the floor, Sonya ignored the screams and quickly pulled the mask off the head of a second terrorist. The unmasked man returned her cold stare as she pressed the Glock against his forehead in his turn.

"Are you suicidal too? Where are they?", she asked him.

The man gave no answer.

"You have three seconds to answer me", Sonya gave an ultimatum.

The terrorist still gave no answer.

"One... Two...", she calmly counted, locking her eyes with his.

"Three...", she announced.

Without another word, she pulled the trigger again. A bullet ripped through his skull and killed him on the spot as more screams followed from the hostages.

"Lieutenant...", one of the Special Forces troops thought of speaking up as she proceeded to unmask a third terrorist.

Sonya aimed the muzzle of the 9mm handgun between the eyes of the third man. Before she could even make a threat, the man closed his eyes and exclaimed.

"They're at Dawn and Parken avenues!", he blurted out, "There's an abandoned construction sight! They're there!".

"That's three blocks away", Ellison stated.

"You and you, stay and guard them", Sonya hurriedly pointed at two of the nine men with her, "Everyone else, come on".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The five elusive terrorists at the deserted construction sight had received a distress signal over the radio from their comrades. Realizing that they were being attacked by the government, they had marched the eight hostages into a large and empty tool shack. Once inside, one masked individual stood with his back against the only door as he held on to his AK-47 to make sure none of the frightened hostages could escape. With that, his four partners rounded up the eight hostages in the middle of the room and forced them to kneel.

"No, please...", the first man begged with tears in his eyes as he looked up at the leader of the five armed radicals.

Since he was closest to the terrorist, his masked executioner overlooked his pleas for mercy and fired several rounds from an AK-47 into his chest. The first hostage thus fell over as the other seven screamed out of fear. Ignoring the distractions, the same terrorist aimed his AK-47 into the chest of the second-nearest hostage and fired half a dozen rounds into that young man's chest also. He aimed his machine gun at a third hostage, intending to put that one to death also, when gunfire erupted from outside. The masked man who was standing with his back to the door was shot by bullets which pierced the wooden door from outside before finding their mark in his upper and lower back. He screamed and tried to turn around in order to face his unknown assailants, but he fell down on his stomach and died before he was able to.

Sonya kicked the bullet-ridden door open from the outside as she held both Glocks at arm's length in front of her chin. Feeling surprised, the masked executioner who had killed the first two hostages pulled the trigger of his AK-47 as the weapon was still aimed at the third hostage. The third hostage screamed as over a dozen bullets tore into his body. The terrorist then lifted the machine gun in an effort to aim it at the blond who had killed one of his men. Unfortunately for him, Sonya already had both pistols pointed at his chest.

"DIE!", she yelled out before pulling each trigger five times in rapid succession.

The first two 9mm bullets entered the executioner's heart and killed him instantly. Eight more bullets entered his chest before his lifeless body was able to fall on the ground, causing his torso to explode in a bloody mess under the firepower. Two of the remaining masked men leveled their machine guns at the intruders also, only to be cut down by rifles from the seven Special Forces troops who followed their lieutenant. The last surviving terrorist lifted a living hostage in front of him, pressing the muzzle of his AK-47 into the man's stomach.

"I'll kill him! Don't come any closer!", the masked survivor blurted out, "All I want is to get out. I'll let him live if I'm allowed safe passage out of here".

Sonya lowered both pistols by her sides.

"Lower the peices, guys", she ordered to the seven men with her attention still fixed on the lone terrorist ahead.

The soldiers obeyed, pointing the muzzle of the M-16 rifles towards the ground. With that, Sonya then raised her right arm, thus leveling the right Glock pistol in front of her face and taking aim at the target.

"I don't think so", she calmly let the terrorist know before she pulled the trigger once.

A single bullet shot out of the handgun and entered the left side of the man's forehead. Pieces of bone and parts of his brain flew out of the back of his head amid an explosion of blood. The last terrorist fell down without being able to use his AK-47 as his hostage remained unhurt.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Private Ellison had found some time to be alone with his supervising officer when the situation with the hostages was over. The local police was already busy clearing the scene and maintaining order, so the members of the Special Forces were not needed any more. Ellison had a problem with lieutenant Blade's behavior ever since she was assigned to be his boss after the mess with the Centaurs was finished, but, according to him, she had crossed the line today. The fact that she was now relaxed, wearing her usual shorts and untucked T-shirt only aggravated him more.

"I saved five lives", Sonya repeated as she realized she was defending her actions to someone whom she outranked, "It might've been eight if the first guy had talked instead of the third one".

"We don't _do_ things like that, lieutenant!", Ellison kept objecting, "Goddamnit, you executed those two people!".

"And your point is?", she locked eyes with him, her calm face enervating him.

Ellison remained silent, feeling unsure as to how he should respond when she saw nothing wrong with her actions. Sonya's glare into his face remained steady while her hair was now untied and flowing free around her shoulders.

"Look", she broke the silence, "If you wanna leave and go to another platoon, just give me the transfer papers tomorrow. I'll be happy to sign it and you won't have to have me as your leader. Do you want to leave my platoon?".

Still no response from Ellison.

"Well?", she pressed.

"No", he finally answered, "But what you did was still wrong".

This time, it was Sonya who didn't have an reply. She couldn't have one. She would've found her actions detestable if she had seen someone else doing them just a short while ago, before the Centaur invasion had taken place. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to come up with a response because her former supervisor from Hong Kong, colonel Shabvey, opened the door to the room from outside. Ellison turned around and saluted at once when he saw the rank of the officer who had entered the room.

"At ease, soldier", Shabvey returned the salute.

"What can I do for you, sir?", Ellison relaxed a little, but not much.

"For starters, you can take the rest of today off", the colonel told him, "It's been a long day for everyone. I need to talk to the lieutenant here. You go home and relax".

"Thank you, sir", Ellison gave another formal salute and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?", Sonya crossed her arms in front of her chest when the two of them were alone in the room.

"What's going on is, we read the reports of your actions earlier on today when you found out eight hostages were missing", Shabvey informed her.

"So?", she questioned, still giving him an icy look.

"Needless to say, they caused problems", the colonel added.

"Oh. So what are you going to do? Kick me out?", she answered him, indicating she did not care much about his actions, or anyone else's, "Go right ahead. It's not like I'm dying to keep this job".

The colonel only replied with a facial expression, one where he looked sad.

"I wasn't supposed to be alone anyway. That wasn't the plan", she continued.

She was referring to Scott and how they were both supposed to serve together, although she didn't know, or care, if the colonel knew that. Shabvey, though, still remembered her actions on the boat during the Centaur invasion when Motaro's soldiers had pushed the boat with him in it into the middle of a lake. Sonya had saved the life of everyone on board then, and he knew it well.

"I'm not kicking you out, but...", his response was interrupted.

"What's going on, colonel?", she lowered her arms and approached him, bringing her face to within inches of his, "You used to be good at that. You're softening up".

"There's a hearing scheduled in two hours concerning your actions", he let her know, "I advise you be there to defend yourself. I'll be there also. They shouldn't be so hard on you considering the reasons for your actions".

An uneasy silence followed since she didn't respond and he didn't add anything else. Only the constant eye contact remained between them. The colonel wanted desperately to say something to break the ice. He wanted to tell her that he had been wrong back in Hong Kong when she wanted to go after Kano and also when he recommended that she be given a dishonorable discharge for disobeying him. He also wanted to say that he hated to see an excellent soldier such as herself being overcome by the stress. He could easily see the burned expression in her eyes, but especially now that her face was so close to his. On top of that, he also wanted to inform her that he knew she had been bearing a tremendous heartbreak ever since the Centaur invasion, a heartbreak that she hasn't been able to deal with so far. Colonel Shabvey was worried because he could recognize the burned look in her eyes. It was the same look he had seen in the eyes of a previous soldier under his command several years ago. That soldier had ended up going AWOL one day. His body was found the next morning in a forest because he had put his service pistol into his own mouth before pulling the trigger. Shabvey couldn't find the right words to even begin saying all that was on his mind at that time. He simply nodded, turned around and walked out of the room, wishing there was more he could do for his lieutenant.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Lieutenant Blade", the three-star general woke her up from the daydream as he called out her name during the hearing.

Sonya's eyes popped open before she looked around the room. The three-star general was seated at a desk ten steps ahead of the table around which she was seated herself. A pair of two-star generals sat next to the one who had called her name. Turning her head to the left, Sonya saw major Jackson Briggs sitting next to her and colonel Shabvey sitting to the left of the major at the same table. All five men were dressed in full military uniform while she was still wearing her shorts and T-shirt. She thought that looked very strange and began laughing about it, thus receiving stares from everyone else.

"Yes, what is it?", she finally stopped laughing and asked why the general announced her name.

"Do you have anything to say on your behalf?", the three-star general politely asked.

"About what?", she answered his question with a question of her own.

"About your actions earlier on today, lieutenant", the general seemed annoyed.

"I'm tired. I wanna go home", she only replied, still feeling dazed.

The three-star general exchanged looks with his two-star counterparts and only got confused stares from them.

"Well", he then proceeded, "After what I've hear from the major and the colonel on your behalf, and also since your actions were to save the lives of the remaining eight hostages, I think I can let this matter go with some mandatory counseling with a psychologist who your superiors approve of. Your rank and pay will not be lowered and that will be the end of the matter. Is that acceptable with you?".

"Sure thing", she extended both raised thumbs in front of her chest, "Can I go now?".

"Yes", the general sighed.

"Great!", Sonya jumped out of her seat and quickly walked towards the exit door.

"Lieutenant", major Briggs called out, following her outside.

She paid no attention to him.

"Lieutenant!", Jax called out again, this time louder as they were already in the hallway.

Still no response from her. She only kept walking away from him.

"Sonya!", the major almost yelled, finally getting her attention.

She turned around and waited for him as he ran to catch up until he reached her.

"Yes?", she asked him, giving a tired smile.

"Where you going?", he questioned in a softer tone of voice since they were next to each other by then.

"I'm going to the bar", she turned and started walking away again, "Gotta get me some beer".

"Are you going to tell this counselor or whomever about the killings in the raid?", he pressed, still following her.

"I have to, don't I?", she replied.

"It's for your own good", Jax said.

"Yeah, right".

"It _is_", he continued, "And since when do you drink?".

"Since a while ago, boss", she turned around as she emphasized his rank, indicating that the only reason she was talking to him was because it was her duty to do so, "And it's none of your goddamn business what I do with my free time. And this is my free time, right?".

"Yes", Jax had to admit, "You're not to report to duty until tomorrow morning".

"Great, so buzz off!", she told to his face with more anger, "I'll be on time and ready tomorrow morning. That's all I owe you. I don't have to listen to a lecture until then".

Jax stopped following and let her walk away. He stood still in the hallway, watching her from behind until she disappeared. He told himself that Sonya was acting strange, even for her. He had to think of what to do about it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The beer always seemed to taste better after the second bottle. Two empty bottles rested on the table as Sonya was in the middle of guzzling a third one while a fourth full bottle was still unopened a few inches away. It had been a process over the last several months where she'd stay alert and sober while on duty, take in all the emotional pain of the job and then rush to the bar to forget every last detail of it. All the killing just didn't matter once she was drunk. She realized that she'd have to face reality again the next morning, but at least this way, a fraction of her days was spent without anguish. She just didn't see any point in staying brisk when not on duty any more, and while at it, she thought there was no point to life in general. Things were always difficult when she had tried to find a meaning to the occurrences around her and also when she had tried to convince herself that she had purpose. But in the end, all the effort on her part and on the parts of many others could only procrastinate the inevitable doom that was destined to swallow up this realm.

There was one time when things appeared bright. Ironically, it was during the night when Motaro's army was decimating the Earth's warrior class. When Scott had told her of plans to get her old rank with the military back, it sounded like the best thing in the world back then. Of course, that was on the assumption that Scott would be there too. She sighed and put the half-empty bottle down on the table when she thought about Scott. She had many plans arranged with the ninja; the ninja who loved her more than life itself. She pointed out that she was thinking the word 'loved', as in the past tense, because he was buried six feet under ground now. Ever since the night of the failed invasion, she had been reminding herself that Scott had been taken from her simply because some four-legged jackass decided he wanted to control two realms instead of one.

Sonya's thoughts were interrupted by an outside voice. She looked up from her seat and recognized Chris despite her blood-shot eyes. The young man whom she had met during the invasion sat next to her. She didn't particularly want to talk to anyone at the time, but as long as Chris had taken the time to come and see her, she reasoned he had a right to stay.

"What can I do for you?", she whispered as she picked up the third bottle and began sipping again.

"Just wanted to see how things were", Chris answered, "So, how are they?".

"Oh, just great. Can't you tell?", she didn't mean to sound sarcastic, but ended up doing so anyway.

"I heard the Special Forces broke up that gang who had taken those hostages today", the young man went on, "Were you there?".

"Yeah, right in the middle of it", she replied before sealing her mouth with the open end of the bottle again.

Sonya put the bottle down again, realizing she was probably being impolite.

"Beer?", she gripped the fourth closed bottle and offered it to her guest.

"No", Chris quickly shook his head, "I'm underage".

"Oh, we can't have that, now can we?", she pushed the bottle away from him.

They made eye contact for a moment before she spoke again.

"So did you come here just to stare at me or what?".

"Just wondering if there's anything I can do", he gave a slight smile.

She looked at him, wondering if that actually was a real smile or a fake and nervous one. She couldn't tell any more, the alcohol was taking affect, which was probably good.

"That's fine, kiddo", Sonya finished the last gulp from the third bottle, "I'm fine, you can go home".

"You're sure?", he was being persistent, she didn't like that.

"Yeah, yeah", she went on, trying not to appear annoyed, "This isn't the right place for you if you're underage anyway".

Either Chris finally got the message or he believed her because he then got up, said good-bye and left.

She didn't know how much time passed before her next visitor. Maybe it was a couple of hours or so. She had been seated still and just staring at the fourth full bottle of beer, which she had opened, from the time of Chris' departure until now. She turned her head away from the bottle and had to stare up at the standing man for several seconds before she recognized him as Johnny Cage.

"Can I join you?", the actor quietly asked.

"Since when do you need my permission?", she replied, turning her stare back towards the fourth bottle.

"What are you doing?", her fellow kombatant asked next as he sat next to her.

"I've been wondering whether I should drink this", she motioned towards the bottle with her head.

"You don't want to", Johnny said, trying to convince her.

Sonya only moaned a bit for a response.

"How many have you had so far?", he then questioned.

"Three", was her quick answer.

"Then don't drink that. You've had more than enough, Sonya", he whispered into her ear.

The actor placed his arm around her shoulders in an effort to sway her away from the bottle.

"Come on, sweetheart, I'll take you home", he added as he stood up, "You should get some sleep".

"OK", she whimpered as she stood up after him.

"That's good", Johnny went on, "You shouldn't drive in this condition anyway".

"Oh, I walked, I didn't drive", she corrected him as she let him lead her outside.

There was a pause as he directed her towards the door.

"It's not like I expected myself to be able to take this shit forever", Sonya pointed out as she had trouble walking, "Every person has a limit and eventually cracks under the pressure, you know".

"I know, I understand", Johnny replied.

The strange part was that he wasn't lying. He really did understand.

The drive to take his fellow kombatant to her home was uneventful, which is to say good. Johnny had used his key to open the door before Sonya was finally able to go inside and crash on her bed. She was asleep almost as soon as her body had hit the mattress. Seeing it, the actor knew there wasn't much more he could for her, at least not on the short run, so he turned around and walked back out, closing the door behind him. He told himself that he was going to have to ask Liu for help in getting Sonya out of the depression that she was trapped in. The White Lotus monk definitely had the desire, and probably the ability, to help one of his contemporary kombatants.

As Johnny gazed at the setting sun, he thought that he'd prefer to visit Liu at the present time rather than be alone anyway. The next scenes for his film weren't going to be ready to be shot for several days, so he had plenty of time on his hands. Though not totally sure of the monk's current whereabouts, the actor had a good idea of where Liu could be. So he hurried to his parked car...

Surely enough, Johnny found a lone person seated on the ground in front of the small artificial waterfall near the end of Claridge avenue. The waterfall had been built three decades ago to serve as a tourist attraction, but an increase in the amount of crime in the several previous years had kept people from enjoying it, especially after sunset. Fear of crime was the reason why no one else could be seen in the streets of the neighborhood where the waterfall was located. Liu was the sole person there since the scenery had captivated him ever since the first time he saw it and this was a spot he always preferred to come to in order to meditate. The lack of citizens around him was even better, since it meant no interruptions during his meditation.

The monk did not turn around or even move when he heard Johnny's vehicle approaching from behind him. The actor stopped the car, got out and casually walked towards Liu, wanting to tell him who the driver was since he was sure the monk did not expect him here. Liu didn't move his head to look up even when the actor reached his left side, so Johnny next sat down next to him and crossed his legs in the same fashion. It was only then that the monk turned his face to the left and noticed who the visitor was.

"Jonathan!", Liu smiled before turning his attention back to the waterfall, "Nice of you to come. Are you here to see me?".

"Well, it ain't the scenery", the actor replied.

"Is something on your mind?", the monk asked next.

"Yeah, Sonya", Johnny got right to the point, "Took her home a short while back since she was drunk. Again".

"She has been worrying me also", the monk went on, still staring straight ahead, "Her pattern of turning to intoxication to deal with her emotional pain is not a healthy one. It could lead to her demise".

"We're the closest to her, right?", the actor faced the White Lotus member, "So it's up to us to pull her out of this".

"I agree", Liu frankly replied.

"So, what're we gonna do?".

"Let us discuss our options elsewhere", the monk said as he swiftly sprang up to his feet.

"Huh?", Johnny was taken by surprise as Liu was suddenly standing up straight.

"We should discuss this elsewhere", the monk repeated, looking down at him, "Unless there is a reason you would prefer to do it here".

"No, I just came here 'cause you were meditating", the actor stood up also, though not quiet as fast.

"The meditation is finished for today", Liu let him know, "Let's go home".

As both men opened the front doors to Johnny's car, the actor noticed an odd object by the side of the front driver's side seat. He gripped it with his right thumb and index finger and had to pull for several instants before it was free. Liu noticed that something had captured the actor's attention, so he waited patiently until Johnny was done inspecting the object.

Unknown to them, a tabloid reporter had planted that sensitive listening device on Johnny's vehicle and was listening in from two miles away by using a headset. The reporter's hope was that he could find some outrageous news about the well-known star which could then be published.

Recognizing the trick, Johnny lifted his left index finger at Liu, indicating he wanted the monk to wait by his car while he walked away. The actor took several steps away from the vehicle while still holding the listening device in his right hand. Once far enough away, he lifted the device to within two inches of his lips and whistled into it in as loud a manner as possible.

The listening device was designed to be delicate enough so that the person listening to it on the other end could hear the slightest whispers. So the reporter who was trying to eavesdrop in an office two miles away almost went deaf before was able to pull the headset away from his ears.

Chuckling, the actor dropped the device on the ground and walked back to his car. The curious look on Liu's face indicated to him that the monk had no idea what just happened and would need to hear his explanation of the events.

"Listening device", Johnny pointed behind him as he got behind the wheel.

"What was it there for?", the monk was curious.

"To get stuff on me", the actor let him know, "But it's done now".

"It was apparently as a whistle that keeps elephants at bay in the middle of a metropolis", Liu settled into the front passenger seat.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott could definitely understand how his opponent was considered to be the best ever. The bright white sky of his realm silhouetted Kung Lao's upper body as the Shaolin monk was prancing around as easily as a housecat, making it difficult for the ninja to deliver a clear blow. Richards and Daniel were seated on the flat ground as they half-heartily watched the sparring match between Scott and the original human Mortal Kombat champion. Durak's attention was elsewhere as the Shokanite kept staring into the sky, unsure as to why he felt mesmerized by it at the present time. None of the four humans seemed to notice the Shokanite's gaze for now.

"Don't let down your left arm, don't let down your left arm", Kung Lao quickly advised as he saw Scott's left forearm getting lower, thus leaving the left side of the ninja's torso unprotected.

"Damn", Scott whispered under his breath, realizing he had gotten careless against his opponent, again.

Realizing no permanent injury could be inflicted in the land of the dead, the ninja spun around in a powerful roundhouse kick aimed at Kung Lao's head. The monk with the hat easily ducked, forcing his opponent to miss yet another attempt. The former Mortal Kombat champion stood back up straight before Scott had returned to his fighting stance and smoothly executed a low sweeping kick with his left leg. His left ankle met Scott's knee and knocked the ninja's leg out from under him. The Special Forces soldier gasped as he felt his feet losing their grip on the ground. His upper body would've crashed down on the ground back-first, except Kung Lao rushed forward. The former champion passed one of his forearms under the ninja's lower back and the other under his shoulders, thus softening his opponent's fall. Scott gently landed on the ground before he sat up on the hard earth.

"That was not bad", Kung Lao mentioned as he remained standing over the ninja and crossed his arms, "You do have plenty of endurance".

"Thanks", Scott replied, trying to catch his breath.

He still didn't understand how the individual before him could've lost a tournament against Goro. He told himself that perhaps the fighting monk was not as talented five centuries ago in Earth as he was now. There had to be some kind of reason because the energy and strength Scott acquired was more than he had ever thought possible when he first became one with his clone. His talents were then sharpened for several incredible months when he trained with Durak before being killed. Despite all that, he was staring at a fighter who could vanquish him every time they sparred. The confusing part was that Kung Lao had been totally honest about his life on the Earth realm, describing how he had lost the fight against Goro within half a minute. The ninja had to admit that the amount of strength possessed by a Shokanite was truly fascinating. Thinking of a Shokanite, he turned his attention towards Durak and found the nine-foot tall warrior returning his glance.

"Is that all you humans can muster?", the Shokanite grinned, "Pretty pathetic".

"Oh, like you can do any better?", Scott replied with a grin of his own as he stood up, though he knew very well that Durak was infinitely stronger than any human.

"Ha! I could do better the day I was conceived!", Durak kept smiling.

"Really?", Scott eyed Kung Lao, who slightly nodded in approval.

The ninja turned his head towards the spot where his comrade in the Special Forces and Sonya's brother sat on the ground. They also understood the look in his eyes and promptly stood up. Durak suddenly became suspicious as he noticed the nonverbal communication.

"If you're so good, maybe we should see how good", the ninja approached him in a cheerful fashion.

Durak suddenly realized that all four humans were slowly approaching him at once.

"No, don't you dare", the Shokanite warned, lifting his upper arms in front of his chest as a gesture that he was being serious, "Don't you dare!".

"Rush him, guys!", Scott ignored his advice and gave the order.

The four men charged towards the giant as one, each man tackling one of his arms. Durak groaned as he suddenly found himself being pulled down with a human fighter attached to each of his four forearms. With a grunt, he swung his upper right arm in a roundhouse fashion and saw that the human holding it, who was Richards, flew several yards away. Swinging the upper left arm caused Kung Lao to be hurled in a semi-circle until he landed on the ground fifteen steps away. Daniel was the third to go flying with a scream as Durak swayed his lower right arm. With Scott being the last human left still clinging to the giant's lower left forearm, Durak executed a swift uppercut into the air with that arm and saw the ninja flying backwards before landing on his back as well.

"Funny", the Shokanite stated as Scott stood back up, laughing at the scene.

"God! You should've seen your face when we came running!", Daniel added to the hysteria that the four humans were absorbed in.

Before answering, Durak felt an overwhelming sensation in his mind. He stared up into the bright sky again, only this time realizing the reason for his confusion.

"What?", Scott calmed down, noticing the look on his face, "What is it?".

"The realms", Durak whispered more to himself than to the humans, "The realms are unbalanced".

"Come again?", Richards questioned.

"I suspected Shao Kahn would do this", the Shokanite replied in a louder tone, this time looking directly down at the humans, "The emperor has unbalanced the realms in an effort to invade your realm".

"What?", the ninja exclaimed, "Isn't that shit over with already when the Centaurs were driven back?".

"I have suspected this ever since I did not see Motaro here", Durak explained, "The reason Motaro wasn't brought here after the female human killed him was because he was brought back to life, probably by emperor Kahn".

"Why the hell would Kahn bring Motaro back?", Richards thought out loud.

"Simple", Scott already knew, "That way, he can control him. And whoever controls Motaro also controls the more than a billion Centaurs who see him as a god".

"Precisely", Durak went on, "The emperor is probably trying to invade your realm under his own power and for his own reasons".

"Great! Fucking great!", Richards blurted out, "Just when I thought things were going fine, this happens! Now we're gonna be sitting here worrying about our race all over again!".

"I am afraid so", Kung Lao said.

"Uuuuuuggggghhhh!", Richards angrily pouted.

The Special Forces lieutenant flicked his right thumb and index fingers together, causing Kano to appear just two steps in front of him.

"Oh, what?", Kano whined, realizing that Richards could not have summoned him to give him good news, "I was just getting relaxed! Come on, mate, leave me alone! Why do you have to bother me again?".

"Sorry, I just need a punching bag right now", Richard replied before turning his right hand into a fist, "Nothing personal".

The lieutenant's fist crashed into Kano's face, knocking the organized crime lord down on his hands and knees.

"Now you may leave", Richards let him know as the man with the semi-metallic face remained on the ground and coughed from pain.

The lieutenant flicked his thumb and index fingers together again and Kano vanished, having been sent back to where he had been previously. Ignoring the punishment that Richards had imposed on the human who had killed him back in the Earth realm, Durak placed his lower hands together before slowly separating them. He stopped moving his hands when they were about six inches away from each other because a small but bright ball of gas appeared suspended in the air between them. The ball of gas expanded until its diameter reached the distance between Durak's hands. The Shokanite then continued opening his lower hands just enough to have room for the mysterious sphere, which slowly expanded until it was about a yard in diameter. Durak took one step backward, letting the brilliant sphere hang in midair as Scott, Richards and Daniel were mesmerized by what they saw, although Kung Lao didn't appear to be.

"Wooo, what is that?", the ninja was the first to ask.

"Something that the inhabitants of this realm can only learn with time and experience", the Shokanite replied, thus indicating that he and Kung Lao had already seen it while newcomers had not.

"It will allow anyone interested to view the land of the living", Kung Lao informed the three other humans, "No matter which realm one desires to watch".

"So you're telling me we can see what happens in Earth?", Richards questioned.

"Precisely", Durak let him know.

"I am worried about our homeland", Kung Lao went on, staring into the sphere with a blank expression on his face, "What if Kahn succeeds where Motaro failed?".

"That's not gonna happen!", Scott countered with more confidence than he felt.

"Kahn personally has more power than a thousand Centaurs combined", the hatted monk added, "And he also has Motaro's army on his side. The Centaur will have to be beaten again if humanity is to have a chance, and the only way any human could beat Motaro in a confrontation is by using the secrets of the natural forces".

"The what?", the ninja questioned.

"It is the only way I can think of", Kung Lao explained, unaware that Scott had no idea what he was talking about, "It allows people to use their innermost power in an external manner, but Shang Tsung has stolen the scrolls that explain the method in which the power is transferred to individuals".

"Is that so?", Scott was more interested in the sphere now than in the monk's words.

"Yes", the monk didn't seem to notice, "The scrolls have been hidden in a temple on the sorcerer's island for the last eight hundred years, but the living humans don't even know that it is there. They have no chance of finding it, I'm afraid".

By the time he was finished talking, everyone else was busy staring into the enchanted sphere.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The scene would have been truly frightening if an inhabitant from the Earth realm had witnessed it. Sheeva stood in a large group with her fellow Shokanites, only a few of which were her size. Most in the group were much larger than just seven feet tall. Judging from the number of individuals, she would have guessed that all the Shokanites from her realm had gathered there under Kintaro's leadership. The tiger-striped chief with the spiked shoulder pads stood his ground in front of the more than six thousand Shokanites that he controlled. Despite all the power and influence that Kintaro possessed over the other members of his race, everyone knew that Shao Kahn was his own master and no actions could be taken without the emperor's permission. At Kahn's request, or perhaps command, Kintaro had ordered everyone from his realm to attend the service where the emperor would instruct them about the future of the empire.

Despite the several thousand Shokanites who were present, the number of four-armed individuals at the ceremony was distinctly small when compared to the number of Centaurs. Sheeva could clearly see an infinitely larger gathering of Centaurs surrounding the Shokanites. In fact, Centaurs were the only things her eyes could see until the horizon. As strange as it sounded, she had been told that, in spite of the huge number of Centaurs in emperor Kahn's army, there existed an even larger number of mutants. The mutants were present also, but the total of Centaurs standing together all around the Shokanites made it impossible for her to spot any of them.

Emperor Kahn was supposedly standing on an elevated structure in the middle of his extensive army, though Sheeva could not see him in person either. Instead, several two-dimensional replicas of the emperor, which were at least fifteen feet tall each, were projected on regular intervals in the air. It was one of those replicas that Sheeva was looking up towards at the present time. The emperor was in the middle of his speech as he decried the Earth realm and gave a countless number of reasons as to why it should be conquered and all its inhabitants enslaved. His horned metal mask hid all facial expression from his audience, but one did not have to see the emperor's face to realize that he was enraged.

"...WILL PURIFY THOSE SUBSTANDARD HUMANS!", the replica screamed, its arms pointing towards the red sky, "THEIRS WILL BE AN EXISTENCE WHOSE ONLY PURPOSE IS TO SERVE US! THOSE WHO REFUSE TO BE ENSLAVED SHALL DIIIIIIIIIE!".

The army of Centaurs, Shokanites and mutants roared in approval as the emperor waited for the cheers to calm down before he continued.

"WITH THE HELP OF GENERAL MOTARO, MY SECOND-IN-COMMAND, MY SPECIAL ADVISOR SHANG TSUNG AND MY HEAD REPRESENTATIVE KINTARO FOR THE SHOKANITES, WE WILL OBLITERATE THAT REALM WITH AN ONSLAUGHT THE KIND OF WHICH ITS PUNY INHABITANTS COULD NEVER EVEN IMAGINE!".

More roars and cheers, louder this time.

"MY SECOND-IN-COMMAND HAS ATTEMPTED TO CONQUER THOSE HUMAN PESTS IN THE PAST", emperor Kahn stopped briefly, recalling Motaro's invasion of the Earth realm, "ALTHOUGH HE WAS BRAVE AND HAD THE RIGHT IDEA, HE DID NOT POSSESS THE PROPER KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO SUSTAIN HIS GRIP OF THAT REALM. I OWN THAT KNOWLEDGE NOW, AND WITH YOUR SUPPORT, I WILL OBLITERATE THOSE HUMANS FOR ONCE AND FOR ALL!".

Ear-splitting screams from the emperor's army followed.

"WE SHALL ANNIHILATE THE WEAK!", Kahn screamed in order to be heard over the roar of his army.

This was definitely not a good time to be a human.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rayden was ushered towards the celestial throne as the deity who had informed him that Zeus wished to speak with him followed as a courtesy. The chief of the deities sat lazily on his throne, as he had done for the thousands of years that the thunder god had known him. Zeus only lifted his face partly when Rayden entered the palace, as if the deity's arrival was merely a small matter in his otherwise busy life. The thunder god, on the other hand, knew that the most powerful god did not do much of value in the present time. Perhaps Zeus was truly great once, before Rayden existed, but that was surely a different age. Right now, the only thing the chief god stood for was the authority which did nothing useful and almost always tried to limit the effects lower deities tried to have. Rayden told himself it was possible that Zeus was once energetic and anxious to get involved in mortals' affairs. But the chief god probably ended up losing interest after seeing a countless number of generations die while he was immortal.

"You wished for my presence?", Rayden spoke first.

"Yes", Zeus replied as he still seemed preoccupied with another matter, "It concerns your involvement with the mortals from the Earth realm".

"What about it?", the thunder god questioned.

"There is a second invasion planned", Zeus explained, "You do know that, do you not?".

"I do now", Rayden went on, "I found out a short while ago".

"No doubt you wish to warn these mortals about Shao Kahn's arrival", the chief god added.

"Of course", the thunder deity assured.

"You cannot", Zeus flatly stated.

Rayden only stared back without answering. When the chief god did not give any reasons for his decision, the inferior deity was compelled to speak again.

"Would you care to explain why?", he calmly asked.

"Kahn is extremely powerful", Zeus seemed annoyed as he explained, "If I allow you to interfere, he has threatened to declare war on us".

"He is no match for us", Rayden countered.

"Perhaps not, but it would take much energy to defeat him, especially if he was to conquer the Earth realm and use the souls of its inhabitants to strengthen himself", Zeus went on, "I do not wish to partake in such a conflict".

If Rayden had been a mortal, he was sure he would've felt extreme anger by that time. But he was a deity who was incapable of such negative emotions.

"Do not worry about your purpose", Zeus added, "I will make sure to assign another realm for your protection after Earth has been destroyed. You need not go without aspiration. But this Earth realm of yours has already crossed the point of no return. Its inhabitants are lazy and mostly corrupt. They do not deserve such effort from anyone here. And just to ensure that you do not foolishly get involved, you are ordered to remain in my palace as a guest until Kahn's invasion is over. Once Earth falls, or survives, you shall be allowed to leave and you shall be assigned a new realm if you wish it. If you do not, you can always keep watch over Earth, though I do not know why you would desire so".

Realizing that the chief god had made up his mind, Rayden only turned around and walked out of the celestial palace without uttering a word. As of now, he was officially unable to assist the mortals in the realm he was supposed to protect.

Hades was on his knees and busy patting Cerberus' middle head when Rayden finally found him in Zeus' palace. The deity who was kept in charge of overseeing the dead and their progression from their first realm to his own one stood as he felt the thunder god approaching from behind. Turning around, he bowed as Rayden stopped three steps away and bowed back. Cerberus playfully proceeded ahead and began licking the thunder god's left hand as its master stared into Rayden's face. Hades' appearance was one which always shocked every mortal who left the first realm since it only consisted of a skeleton who was covered by a hooded cloak. But the thunder god was comfortable with it after ages spent together.

"What can I do for you, colleague?", Hades asked.

"I need for you to go to the Earth realm", Rayden went straight to the point.

"Does this have anything to do with its imminent invasion?", the god of death curiously questioned.

The thunder god nodded his head.

"I have been told Zeus ordered you not to involve yourself in it", Hades pointed out.

"He is a fool sometimes", Rayden boldly replied, "But he is also in control, for now".

"I see", the cloaked deity sighed.

"He ordered me to stay here until the duration of the invasion", the thunder god went on, "He did not say anything about you".

Hades stopped briefly, considering his options.

"If Shao Kahn succeeds, he will enslave six billion souls", Rayden tried to convince him, "Those are six billion souls who will then never reach your realm, as they rightly should. I _know_ you disagree with Kahn's actions".

"Yes, his deeds have caused me stress ever since he began stealing souls", Hades agreed.

"This will be our chance to end the enslavement", Rayden went on, "And we will not be disobeying Zeus since he never put restraints upon _you_".

"What do you wish me to do?", Hades said next, pleasing the thunder god immensely.

"Find one of the mortals who participated in the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament", Rayden explained.

"That should not be difficult", the god of death told him, "And then?".

"Tell him or her that Earth's best chance of surviving Kahn's attack is to find the gray warrior who is in hiding in the Outworld realm. It is written in the prophecies that a gray renegade warrior escaped from Kahn a hundred years ago and that he will be the one to purify the world".

"I will go there at once", Hades flicked his left index and middle fingers, indicating his dog to follow, which it did.

"Thank you, my friend", Rayden smiled.

Hades bowed in response.

"I just wish these mortals would stop regarding me with fear and contempt", the god of death said, "I still receive negative responses from them every time they think about me. They are so afraid that they just never realize that I am here to help them".

"I know", the thunder god understood.

"Imagine if life was such that no one ever died", Hades sighed as he walked away, followed by Cerberus, "The conditions in any realm then would quickly be unbearable".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Officer Pensky had just completed his eight-hour shift from noon until eight at night when he was leaving the police station accompanied by detective Olsen. The two had already put all the occurrences of the day behind them and were busy solely discussing what their plans were for the rest of the night. Pensky was looking forward to a quiet dinner in front of the television set as he watched a rerun of an old movie he had enjoyed as a child. Olsen had laughed at the mention of the movie's title, since it was one of the few films that he absolutely detested.

"I'm not saying the actor was bad by himself", Olsen pointed out, "But the movie just made me sick when I saw it for the first, and only, time".

"I can't believe I'm hearing that", Pensky smiled, "That was one of the best motion pictures ever...".

His words were cut short because both men suddenly heard a loud and concentrated whirlwind. Naturally curious, they turned their attention towards the source of the noise only to see a bright red tornado which had appeared out of nowhere. The tornado did not move, it only stood in place, and it was so high that it created a link between the ground and the clouds. Oddly enough, there was no increase in the amount of wind that could be felt. A portal appeared at the base of the tornado on the ground a few seconds before a figure emerged out of it. Both men quietly observed as other passerby's also stopped to see what was occurring. The emerging figure stood at seven feet tall and was wearing a metal mask with horns which made him look like Satan himself. Pensky calmly turned to Olsen and spoke without any hint of panic or surprise in his voice.

"Detective, is that supposed to happen?", the officer simply asked as he pointed towards the portal.

Olsen didn't get a chance to respond because he was interrupted. The people in the streets as well as the two officers saw soldiers from hell teleporting everywhere all at once. Some of them, the Centaurs, were familiar with their eight-foot tall figures, four legs and their horned heads. Their appearance alone was enough to scare the citizens who saw them. Pensky gasped as he caught sight of the first Centaur since the failed invasion and both officers quickly reached for their service pistols. The Centaurs, though, were not alone this time. Other seven-foot tall creatures with what appeared to be razor-sharp teeth and huge blades protruding out of each forearm had teleported everywhere as well.

"IT IS TIME!", Shao Kahn screamed as he raised his arms towards the night sky.

What followed next was something that Pensky could only describe as the start of the extinction of his race. Amid the warcries of the Centaurs and the mutants and the panicked shrieks of most of the humans in the scene, the violence erupted. Some Centaurs were quick to jump into the middle of the street, stopping the flow of traffic. The first vehicles which reached them tried to screech to a halt but ended up crashing into the four-legged monsters anyway. The sudden stop of the first car in the line caused the vehicle behind it to slam into it also, thus setting up a chain reaction where dozens of cars ended up being involved in a violent crash. Looking for revenge for their previous embarrassment in this realm, the Centaur warrior raised his arms towards the night sky before angrily slamming both his fists on the hood of the original car in the traffic jam. The hood was crushed inward as the engine crumbled under the impact, letting out a thick outpouring of smoke. The hysterical driver tried to open the front door to get out of his vehicle, but the Centaur then rose on his hind legs before stretching his horse-like lower body forward. His front legs were then brought down on the forward half of the car roof, easily pressing the strong metal and trapping the driver inside. Once seeing that the human was unable to open the driver's side door, the Centaur walked around to the side of the vehicle and punched the roof inward with his bare fist. It only took two solid punches before he crushed the middle section of the car, pulverizing both the seats and the driver mercilessly. The driver probably screamed, but his screams were drowned out by the roars of the invaders.

Officer Pensky had witnessed that Centaur's actions since the first car in the pileup had only been a short distance away from the police station. Engulfed by a combination of shock and anger, the officer aimed his 9mm pistol at the upper back of the Centaur responsible and pulled the trigger five times. It was only after the giant invader merely convulsed under the impact of the bullets without even showing a sign of pain that Pensky recalled the exceptional toughness of a Centaur's flesh. Turning around from his first kill towards the direction from where the gunshots had emanated, the Centaur's pure white eyes were set on the young officer, and both Pensky and Olsen realized it. The detective was not about to run away knowing the monster would tear the officer apart, so he decided to stand his ground. The Centaur roared again and charged towards the pair of humans, intending to grip one person in each hand before colliding their head against the brick wall of the station. So instead of lowering his head to aim his horns at his opponents, the Centaur only arched his human-like upper body forward, his face eyeing the humans as he galloped towards his targets. Olsen saw his one chance to survive the encounter and aimed his pistol at the intruder's face.

"Empty the clip on his head!", the detective advised as the Centaur hurried closer with each passing moment.

Both Olsen and Pensky leveled their respective weapon and fired into the horseman's face. Sixteen 9mm rounds were fired from the detective's handgun as eleven others were fired from Pensky's, resulting in 27 direct hits on the Centaur's forehead, eyes, nose and mouth. As strong as the intruder's flesh was, even it had its limits. The aggressor screamed as the pain forced him to become disorganized in his forward rush. He staggered to the side, holding his bloodied face with both hands. He was still screaming when he slammed against the wall of a nearby building. He was incapacitated, but still alive, when Olsen replaced the used clip from his weapon with a fresh one.

Knowing the officer did not carry spare clips, the detective quickly motioned him to go inside the station and find some more firepower, which Pensky easily understood. As the younger of the two ran back inside amid the confusion, Olsen ignored the injured Centaur and concentrated on the many other monsters he was seeing within his half of the block alone. Over a dozen people were already lying on the street and the sidewalks dead within the few seconds that it had taken him and Pensky to shoot the Centaur, and the monsters were not finished.

The first spot the detective concentrated on was a nearby mutant who sent his yard-long blade through the window of another disabled vehicle. The sword from his forearm easily pierced the glass before stabbing through the throat of the person behind it. An explosion of blood followed from inside the car and stained the window all red before the mutant triumphantly withdrew his bloodied blade. The entire scene had taken place within about two seconds, so the detective did not even have time to raise his weapon. The same mutant next detected a pedestrian woman behind him who had fallen on the ground, frozen with fear. Seeing his chance, the mutant raised the bloodied blade above his head before swinging it downward towards her. She only managed to scream and lift her hands up in a useless attempt to protect her face as she also closed her eyes and turned her face away from him.

"DON'T!", Olsen yelled even though he was sure the mutant could not hear, and would not have complied even if he could.

The detective leveled his weapon even though he was unsure how tough the new monsters with the blades attached to their arms would be to destroy. He pulled the trigger once as the mutant's blade impaled the pedestrian's stomach. The large knife speared through the woman and was then stopped when its tip met the concrete sidewalk under her. He planned to decapitate her just for fun as he saw blood spilling out of her stomach and mouth. But before being able to withdraw his blade for the second time, the mutant felt a sharp pain in his upper back. He screamed out as he was pushed forward because of an unknown force, though he managed to remain standing. Olsen, on the other hand, saw the deep wound his bullet had created in the mutant's back and his painful reaction to it. Pleased to realize that the seven-foot tall monsters were as vulnerable to bullets as humans, the detective fired twice more into the back of his target. The mutant's upper body arched towards the sky as he screamed louder and his arm was still restrained downward because of his inability to pull his blade out of the second victim. He then managed to stagger two steps forward, dragging the corpse of the pedestrian behind him, before he collapsed on his stomach. His blood freely mixed with the blood from his last victim as his body convulsed for a few moments before he ceased moving.

Despite the detective's actions, though, the death of the mutant and the injuries that he and Pensky had caused to the Centaur were the only cases where an intruder was hurt. All the other cases he saw involved mutants or Centaurs literally tearing humans apart. The bodies of pedestrians and vehicle occupants littered the street. It was hard for the detective to imagine that he was discussing the contents of a movie with a fellow officer just minutes ago. He thought to himself that the odds would hopefully be turned in their favor as he saw Pensky and more than a score of other officers rushing out of the station, all armed with shotguns or high-powered rifles. Pensky tossed an extra shotgun which he carried in his left hand towards the detective, and Olsen grabbed it with his free hand before holstering his pistol.

"There are no orders and no battle plans!", the station lieutenant advised, "Just destroy 'em!".

"YESSIR!", the unanimous response rang out from most of the officers there.

Gunfire erupted from the front of the police station, finally putting a stop to the slaughter that the invaders were enjoying so far. Pensky and two other officers independently happened to each concentrate on the very same Centaur from forty yards away. All three fired the 12-gauge shotgun in their possession, shattering the Centaur's upper body with numerous vigorous rounds. The horseman's body was devastated by the sudden influx of firepower which was aimed against him as he didn't even see the source of the attack. His cries were one of many as he fell over on his side and died without even knowing who was shooting at him.

Halting the shots aimed at the deceased Centaur, all three officers turned their attention to different targets. Pensky looked around in search of a particular enemy, mainly the one whom he and the detective had previously shot in the face. He spotted that Centaur lying on the ground in front of the next building to the left, still moaning and holding his injured face. Feeling enough resentment towards him, Pensky broke away from the group of officers in front of the station and ran towards his left. The wounded Centaur didn't even hear him approaching while he slowed down to a walk as he came to within ten yards of his target.

"Hey, ugly, remember me?", Pensky held his shotgun with both hands in front of his face as it was aimed for the Centaur's head.

He kept walking towards his opponent as he spoke. The Centaur must have been surprised to hear a human addressing him since he withdrew his hands from his face to see who had spoken. The only thing he noticed was that he was staring down the barrel of a shotgun as a human holding the weapon had walked up to within one yard of him from the left. Without another word, Pensky stopped his march and pulled the trigger once. The Centaur didn't even have time to scream as the left side of his face exploded in a gory mess and green blood stained Pensky's police uniform. The four-legged giant fell dead on his right side opposite the direction from where the blast had originated. Feeling good about himself, Pensky turned around and headed back to the police station.

Olsen, on the other hand, had scanned the entire area in search of the man in the metal mask who had stepped out of the portal at the base of the red and immobile tornado. Reasoning that the man could have been the leader of the army from hell, the detective thought it wise to target him. The detective had no trouble spotting the tornado or the portal, but unfortunately, the masked man was nowhere to be found. Olsen could not afford to waste time guessing where he went, so he turned his attention back to the Centaurs and mutants.

By this time, each person at the scene, whether human or invader, had gotten used to the smell of gunpowder and blood. The screams had subsided significantly, which was evidence that all the humans on the street and sidewalk were already dead, as could be grimly seen by the officers. A small number of dead Centaurs and a slightly larger number of dead or dying mutants also littered the area, but the invaders still had the officers by the front of the station outnumbered. Realizing that these individuals had the capacity to harm them, the many mutants and Centaurs who remained aggressively turned their attention towards them. The officers, in turn, formed a tight semicircle around the entrance to the police station as they incessantly fired or reloaded their high-powered weapons. Most of the shots fired either killed a mutant who was charging towards them or stopped a galloping Centaur by injuring him. With his last shot having been used, Pensky was busy reloading his shotgun with the last three rounds in his possession. At the same time, the officer saw that detective Olsen's high-powered weapon was already empty since he had rested it on the ground, relying on his 9mm pistol to target mutants again. A mutant charged towards the semicircle with both arms arched in front of him, eagerly waiting to taste new blood. As he came to within five yards of the officer nearest him, an officer who was also fresh out of ammunition, Olsen squeezed the trigger twice. The first bullet exploded in the mutant's forehead, killing him instantly, while the second entered his chest. The seven-foot tall invader was stopped cold and shrieked before falling on his back dead.

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Sheeva had entered the portal along with Kintaro and about thirty other Shokanites not knowing what to expect on the other side. Kintaro had previously made a special request to emperor Kahn that he be sent to the area in the Earth realm where the human survivors from the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament could be found. Granting his wish, emperor Kahn directed the strongest Shokanite around to the portal which led to the capital of a country called the United States of America. Sheeva thought to herself that even the names of the humans' nations were dumb, but then again, she never expected anything more from these substandard beings. Having been given a choice, she thought to herself that she might as well use the portal that Kintaro himself was using since she had no special reason to invade anywhere in particular. Besides, she thought to herself, she would not have minded seeing the humans who won the tenth tournament, especially the one who was supposed to be strong enough to kill Goro.

Once through the portal, she was encountered with the night sky of the Earth realm. The Shokanites separated, as they were previously ordered by emperor Kahn, since it was believed they could destroy the natives faster that way. Sheeva told herself that the emperor was, of course, right. During Motaro's attempted invasion of this realm earlier on, the head Centaur had been too concerned about only killing as many humans from Earth's warrior class as possible. He had an unreasonable desire to capture most of the natives alive so they could be used to serve his race through forced slavery. Emperor Kahn, on the other hand, was not burdened in such a way. According to the emperor's plans, all humans were to be simply exterminated, regardless of background or reason for existence. If an exception was made where a particular member of the invasion force wanted to spare a human's life, then the appeal could be made to the emperor after the onslaught was over. Sheeva told herself that perhaps the gods understood why any member of the invasion force would want a human to be spared because she sure found the reasoning strange. But in general, all the natives were to be destroyed because the emperor had no use for them as slaves. They were much weaker, more inefficient and required more rest to survive than Shokanites, Centaurs and even mutants. All the emperor was interested in were the souls of the more than five billion inhabitants to increase his own power and the natural resources that the realm offered.

Sheeva's platoon of Shokanite warriors was accompanied by a larger army of Centaurs and mutants who were teleported into the same spot of the Earth realm. Once arrived, the first sight she observed was Kintaro rushing ahead in a lust for vengeance as he targeted a fairly busy street with vehicles that were made out of metal. The leader of the Shokanites reached a car which was not moving for whatever reason and bent down in front of it, gripping its hood with his lower hands. The two human occupants of the vehicle must have been scared beyond their imagination as Kintaro lifted the vehicle horizontally two yards off the ground. Sheeva smiled as she watched the spectacle even though she was only supposed to be there to increase the damage done to the natives. Being amused, she observed Kintaro as he roared and spun around on his own center of gravity, twisting the lifted vehicle along with him. Having spun around about half a dozen times, the giant Shokanite finally let go of the car as he grunted and the vehicle flew in midair until it violently crashed against a tree thirty yards away. It tore the tree in half at the point of impact before coming to rest on the ground in front of its roots.

Sheeva wondered if the occupants were still alive. Seeing Kintaro angrily walk away from the debris, she thought to herself that perhaps she should go to the car and check on the two humans herself. It would have been an ease for her to kill them if they had survived by good luck. As she was still debating the idea in her mind, the vehicle exploded in a ball of flames, disintegrating the tree and surely everyone in it. She smiled again because she did not have to go check on the humans after all. It was then that she heard an individual calmly approaching her from behind. The rhythm of that one's steps indicated to her that it could not have been a native. Turning around, she saw that she was right as she found a large mutant with a bloodied right blade returning her glare. The mutant was exactly as tall as her, so she ended up staring straight ahead to lock eyes with him.

"Stop wasting time", the mutant ordered, "We have a mission to accomplish on behalf of our emperor".

"Of course", Sheeva bowed in respect to the mention of Kahn's title, "I was on my way now".

Despite her words, it was obvious from the expression in her eyes that she did not enjoy being ordered around by a member of a supposedly inferior race, even if the individual was a member of Kahn's army. Despite the screams from the background, the mutant was able to read the voice that her face alone generated and he was glad to see it. Ever since his appointment in the army, it had been a pleasure for him to issue commands to members of other races, especially when those members thought themselves superior.

"Do not cross me", the mutant warned in a loud whisper as he lifted his blood-soaked right blade to show off his work, "I am major general Baraka and my wishes override those of everyone in this platoon, even that brute Kintaro's. Do not forget that".

Sheeva's face became angrier as he finished his last statement, but she made sure to suppress any primal urges to attack, as she had done many times before. Fortunately, she did not have to stare at the mutant for much longer because Baraka turned around and walked away as he flashed his razor-sharp teeth in a twisted smile.

The lady Shokanite could have taken part in the slaughter which occurred in her immediate surroundings. The scene appeared the same everywhere she turned - panicked humans trying unsuccessfully to evade their superior pursuers and ending up either impaled or crushed. She actually noticed two humans who were trying to physically fight back while every other member of their race was attempting to flee. The first human delivered a solid punch at the head of the mutant in front of him, only to be impaled in the chest from behind by a second mutant. The second human was crazy enough to tackle a Shokanite who was at least two feet taller. Her fellow Shokanite was quick to grip his arms by using the two lower hands and lifting him into the air before delivering a devastating headbutt into the human's face. Seeing his unconscious opponent being held helplessly in the air after that single strike, the Shokanite spread his lower arms as far apart as possible. The result was that the second human's arms were cleanly torn away from his shoulders and his armless body fell to the ground without a sound.

Then, Sheeva's sensitive ears heard a faint sound which was not originating from her immediate environment. Listening carefully, she realized that it was the sound of gunfire. Emperor Kahn had warned his army about this. It was a weapon that the humans possessed which allowed them to be even bigger cowards than they already were. A weapon, which, if used right, could kill a Shokanite from a distance so far that the human would be safe and untouched while the death blow was delivered.

"COWARDS!", Sheeva screamed with hatred as she realized those weapons were probably being used to kill members of the emperor's invasion force.

With the great speed that her agile body was gifted with, she ran in the direction where the sound of the gunfire had originated. She rushed past invaders who were busy delivering death blows of their own without even stopping since she knew she was needed elsewhere...

It took her about a minute to race to the spot where the gunfire had originated, which was at least ten city blocks away. Once there, she stopped cold in her tracks from a considerable distance away and surveyed the area. She wasn't even panting as she thankfully realized that there were no dead Shokanites in the region. But still, the weapons that the emperor had warned about were being used by the humans against other members of his army. Among the countless number of dead humans, about a dozen Centaurs and a over a score of mutants lay on the street, either dead or dying also. The humans responsible were formed in a semicircle around a building, and most of them were dressed alike as they incessantly fired their weapons.

Sheeva also observed the response that the surviving Centaurs and mutants were giving the aggressive and cowardly humans. She noticed that every member of the invasion force was trying to rush towards the semicircle of armed humans. She shook her head in disapproval, asking herself how the invaders could be so dull-witted as to attempt a frontal assault against humans who could kill them from a distance. The reason so many of them were already dead was because they tried to be faster than the humans' gunfire, which was impossible. The secret to defeating the natives at this point lay in stealth, not speed.

"Those Centaurs must be as stupid as humans", she whispered to herself.

Still, even though they weren't members of her race, the Centaurs and mutants were still members of her emperor's army, so she had a duty to assist them. Sheeva bolted to the side instead of running forward and trying to meet the human semicircle head-on like the other invaders were doing. She rushed to the rear of the row of buildings and turned the corner. Knowing lives depended on her, she ran towards the back of infrastructure which the human semicircle was using to stand in front of from the side opposite hers. Once reaching the back of the desired building, she slightly squatted her legs before jumping up in an almost vertical line. Her physical prowess allowed her to reach the roof of the four-story building in a single jump. While in midair, her eyes noticed the words 'police dept' written on the wall. Slightly curious about the definition of the word 'dept', Sheeva landed on the roof the building. She didn't think about it much because she then ran on the roof towards the front of the structure. She reached the edge of the roof at the front of the building and glanced over it towards the street below to make sure she had picked the right place. She growled angrily as she saw the semicircle of humans that was organized just below her.

With a tremendous roar, Sheeva jumped over the edge of the building. She landed feet-first on one of the members of the human semicircle, crushing him instantly under her weight. The man next to the crushed human screamed in shock as the seven-foot tall Shokanite seemed to appear out of nowhere next to him, and she did not look pleased to see him. Sheeva grabbed the man's collar with her upper left hand and tossed him towards the street. The officer lost his grip on the shotgun and flew for about thirty yards before landing on the asphalt road. The human was barely conscious when a nearby Centaur rose up on his hind legs before crushing him under the front half of his body.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!", Pensky screamed, shocked by her appearance before anything else because he had only seen Centaurs and mutants so far.

As the young officer planned to turn his shotgun with three remaining rounds in it against her, he noticed a Centaur with lowered horns charging towards one of the men in the semicircle. Sheeva's surprise attack had distracted the humans long enough for them to stop firing, thus giving the other members of the invasion force time to resume their offensive against them. The man who was the target of the Centaur had his back turned to the street because of the surprise the lady Shokanite had presented, so he could not see the monster coming for him. Pensky had a choice of either firing at the new four-armed intruder or saving the life of one of his fellow officers by keeping his shotgun aimed towards the street. With less than a second to choose, he decided on the latter and screamed as he pumped the remaining three rounds on the galloping Centaur. The horseman screamed as all three shells exploded in his chest and he was thrown backwards. He landed on his side, not dead, but seriously injured and bleeding.

Pensky kept yelling as he lifted the empty shotgun above his head and charged at Sheeva. He hoped that, by trying to neutralize the dangerous distraction, his fellow officers could've stayed concentrated on the enemies outside the semicircle. Unfortunately for him, the damage had already been done. Two mutants had broken through the wall of gunfire that the officers had been able to sustain for a short time and ended up fatally stabbing two officers. While that occurred, Olsen and the others kept firing, hitting Centaurs and mutants alike who had gotten even closer to them.

As one of the mutants who had broken through their defense dropped his first victim from the semicircle, he eagerly stabbed a second officer through the heart, fatally wounding him as well. The officer gasped as he looked down at the razor-sharp blade which had exited out of his back. Before the grinning mutant could withdraw his blade, though, the dying human raised the 9mm pistol which he held in his right hand. The mutant's eyes widened as he realized the damage that his second victim from the semicircle could still inflict as that one aimed the pistol into his killer's eyes. The invader pulled his arm back in an attempt to pull his blade out of the human's chest, but his adversary managed to squeeze the trigger three times before the knife was out. Two out of the three bullets entered the mutant's face and killed him on the spot. Both he and his human foe fell on the ground dead and in a pool of blood.

Pensky, in the meanwhile, held the muzzle of the shotgun with both hands as he swung the weapon like a baseball bat aimed for Sheeva's head. The heavier end of the firearm struck the Shokanite next to the right eye, opening a deep cut. Ignoring the pain, she growled and delivered a massive uppercut with her left upper arm. Her fist met his chin and sent him flying backwards for five yards. The officer lost the empty shotgun and landed on his back just outside the semicircle. In his dazed state, he could see the blade of a mutant being swung downward, aimed for his throat. Pensky would've been dead at that moment, except one of his fellow officers fired his next to last 9mm round and hit the aggressive mutant in the stomach. As the invader first dropped to his knees and then fell flat on his stomach, the same officer grabbed Pensky's right ankle and pulled him closer to the thinning semicircle.

"Tell me how this feel, bitch", Olsen commented as turned his 9mm handgun in Sheeva's direction with his right hand.

The Shokanite's eyes widened as she saw the muzzle of the handgun coming closer to her. As it was still in midair, she gripped the detective's right wrist with both left hands. Her upper right hand then delivered a solid punch into his face, snapping his head back as the screams from his both fellow officers and the invaders echoed in his ears. Not defeated, Olsen responded with aiming a high left jab into her throat. The blow hurt more than Sheeva would've liked to admit as she gasped and her upper body was yanked backwards. She loosened her left grips on the detective's right wrist enough that he was able to direct his right hand in her general direction. Finally having her within the range of his pistol, Olsen angrily pulled the trigger.

A round shot out of the 9mm firearm and exploded in between her upper left arm and the left section of her upper chest. Sheeva shrieked in pain as she was thrown backwards. She let go of the detective's wrist and was slammed into the wall of the station behind her. Olsen could not have been happier. The detective changed the aim of his right hand slightly so the muzzle of the handgun aimed directly between her eyes. Sheeva could only stand there because the shock from the pain froze her momentarily as she unknowingly pressed her upper right hand over the wound. Her efforts didn't even come close to slowing the flow of blood which freely emerge from the injury, but the first bullet was not on her mind.

She stared at the human who was pointing the weapon at her face with hatred in her eyes, though she knew she was helpless against him at the moment. Olsen, at the same time, didn't want to give her a chance to recuperate, so he pulled the trigger again with a passion. His mouth widened in shock as the click in the handgun indicated to him that it was empty. He was so concentrated on shooting at the invaders who tried to reach the semicircle that he had not kept a count of the number of shots fired.

"AAAAAAGGGHHH!", the young detective threw the weapon on the ground in a rare fit of rage

Sheeva pulled her hand away from the bullet wound and charged, this time determined to break the exceptionally strong human. Before she reached the detective, though, another officer struck her in the back of the head with the end of a rifle, shattering her concentration again. She turned around shakily, desiring to confront the second assailant, only to find that it was the first officer who had struck her in the head with a shotgun. Pensky had managed to stand back on his feet before picking up an empty rifle which laid on the ground. Ignoring pain from three different areas on her body, from the left shoulder, next to her eyes and now the back of her head, Sheeva growled menacingly. She forgot about Olsen and moved against Pensky in an aggressive manner again. Unfortunately for her, the young officer knew that he did not stand a chance when comparing his physical strength to hers, so he was prepared. Instead of trying to fight her with his fists, Pensky stepped backwards as he saw the Shokanite approaching and dropped the rifle on the ground. In one smooth move, he then reached into his police uniform and withdrew a folded switchblade knife with his right hand.

Pressing a small button, the five-inch long blade sprung open by itself. The officer clearly knew that a weapon that size would not seriously hurt his opponent, unless it was used against a vulnerable spot. With adrenaline charging through both of them, Sheeva and Pensky sprang forward, rushing to meet each other. A split second before they would have collided, the human swung his closed left fist. The Shokanite easily deflected it, telling herself what a pathetic strike it was. Sheeva turned both her right hands into fists, getting ready to deliver a double punch which she expected to devastate the human. She did not realize that Pensky's left fist had only been a distraction, the officer had no power whatsoever reserved in his left arm. While she thought his attack had failed and was getting ready to respond on her own, the human reacted with his planned attack. He lifted the unfolded knife and, using all his strength, plunged the five-inch blade in the exact spot where Olsen's bullet had struck her. The metal blade dug deep into her already ravaged muscles as it followed the course of the bullet wound. Pensky lifted his hand while he held the handle of the knife as he used the point between the handle and the blade as the middle point. That way, the blade, which was still in her flesh, would point downward as a result. Sheeva arched her head towards the sky and screamed as the pain from the bullet wound was worsened until it became unbearable.

The human furiously withdrew the knife, intensifying the pain even more. Sheeva involuntarily dropped to her knees as she kept screaming and clutching her obliterated shoulder. If he had been thinking rationally, Pensky would have realized that he could kill her right there by simply stabbing her in the throat. Instead, he had let his rage over seeing her kill two of his fellow officers overcome his common sense. The human dropped the bloodied knife on the ground and punched the helpless Shokanite in the same wound, causing her to fall on her back. Sheeva could only shriek as she twisted around and crashed on the concrete. She tried to get back up and was on her hands and knees when she noticed Pensky standing over her with the empty rifle again.

Without a word, the young officer lifted the rifle over his head before swinging it down. He heard a satisfying crack as the rifle crashed into the back of her head. An explosion followed in Sheeva's mind as she was knocked back down on her stomach. Pensky continued with the thrashing, using energy that he didn't know he had. He lifted the rifle over his head for a second time and waited a moment. When she was halfway up on her hands and knees for the second time, he slammed the rifle against the back of her head yet again. Sheeva's vision blurred and all strength left her arms and legs after she fell down flat on the ground after that strike. She believed this was going to be the end of her life as she simply waited to die. She told herself that she at least died fighting, as she always desired.

"GET UP! GET UP, BITCH!", Pensky dared because he was not finished with her.

The human grabbed her by the hair at the back of her head and violently pulled her torso upwards. Sheeva gasped at the tension in her neck as the officer yanked her head as far back as possible. A pool of blood from her shoulder had already gathered in front of her.

"This is what happens to copkillers around here!", he barked at her, though unsure as to whether or not she could hear him.

Pensky pushed her face back down and slammed it against the bloody, green-stained concrete. The Shokanite no longer felt any pain by that time because she was close to passing out. The human would have continued the punishment he was inflicting on her, but he was brought out of his anger spell when the officer standing next to him punched a mutant. Pensky turned away from the defeated Shokanite to see that all the human survivors from the police station had run out of ammunition and had to resort to fistfighting against larger opponents. He picked up the sturdy rifle he had used to knock out the Shokanite and swatted the nearest mutant with it, thus freeing the officer next to him from having to continue the battle. He saw only three officers alive aside from him, and a much larger number of Centaurs who were rushing towards them to make sure they did not remain so.

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The arrival of a second army from another realm was not good news for Sub-zero. He had been living in Sweden when he was faced with the first invasion of the Centaurs. Naturally desiring to help, he had gotten involved, but it proved to be harder than he originally imagined because he was forced to keep his talent a secret from everyone else. Still, though, his identity was revealed when a well-known and respected journalist was driving his wounded son to the hospital. A Centaur working for Motaro's extermination squad had ambushed the pair in the vehicle before literally tearing the driver's side door out. The invader had then thrown the father out of the car and decided to beat him to death. The father, in his turn, tried to divert the Centaur's attention so the horseman would not notice his son. Unfortunately, his actions had the opposite effect since the Centaur was able to realize he was being distracted. Understanding that there was someone more important in the vehicle, the invader then turned around and headed back for the car, reasoning that he could kill the son first and make the father watch. The boy in the backseat of the car had two broken legs as well as internal bleeding, so he had no chance of outrunning the invader.

Before that incident, Sub-zero had been able to use his freezing powers against the Centaurs only when no humans were around to see it. But that event had forced him to choose between saving a young boy's life and protecting his identity. He picked the former and threw what appeared to be frozen rain from his fingertips. Once hit with it, the invader had been instantly turned into a solid ice figure. The journalist's jaw had dropped when he saw what just happened in front of his eyes.

Sub-zero could've talked to him, perhaps made him promise to never reveal what he saw to anyone. In the end, though, he just couldn't live life knowing that others would look at him with great curiosity at best or anger and prejudice at worst until the end of his days. Thus, he decided to stay in Sweden for only as long as the Centaur invasion lasted. As soon as the army of horsemen turned away and walked into portals to leave for an unknown reason, he had gone home, packed his belongings and left the country. If he hadn't left and rumors began spreading about his powers, the Lin Kuei would have been quick to track him down to force him to go back to serving the clan.

Of course, he had a choice of returning to the Lin Kuei clan on his own when he departed from Sweden. But he thought that he would rather freeze himself and then have someone throw him over a cliff rather than live with that organization. His older brother had served as a loyal, and usually stupid, ninja. All his service had gotten him over the years was a life of servitude under Shang Tsung, doing the sorcerer's dirty work. The last time Sub-zero had even seen his older brother was the night when he told him that he was leaving the clan and had asked him to come along. Instead of agreeing to accompany him, though, his older brother had raised the alarm and had even tried to restrain him until others arrived at the scene. It was nothing short of a miracle that he was able to break his brother's hold and escape without getting killed. That was the last time the ninja had heard of his brother. At the present time, he didn't even know if his only brother was alive.

So here he was now, in a different country that was separated from Sweden by a vast ocean. His neighbors knew him as Wally, which, of course, was not his real name. He preferred to call himself Sub-zero, having even kept the blue ninja outfit he used to wear in his days with the Lin Kuei. He had settled in the new country fairly quickly. He was lucky that he was able to find a job with the local fire department, always impressing his fellow firemen with his ability to go into a burning building alone and extinguish the fire. None of them wondered, up until now, how they could follow him inside a drenched room which was burning only minutes ago and see that he hadn't even turned the water hose on yet.

He couldn't honestly say that he was shocked when he saw the red tornado. An immobile whirlwind such as that must have taken a large amount of power to organize and an even larger one to maintain. Someone was transporting a large garrison into this realm from somewhere else, and Sub-zero was pretty sure it wasn't being done for the benefits of his home realm. It might've been Shang Tsung's emperor Shao Kahn who was responsible, or perhaps even Shang Tsung himself. Almost anything was possible once an individual allowed oneself to partake in the black arts.

"Here we go again", the former ice ninja sighed as he saw the red tornado first and then the invasion by the three different races from foreign realms, all of whom he recognized.

Dressed in his favorite color, blue, he calmly rushed out of the little apartment he called home amid the screams of confusion and fear from the other building dwellers. He was a ninja no matter what his past with the Lin Kuei, and it was his duty to defend his home realm. If the invasion force was looking for a fight, it had just found one.

The first invader he ran across once outside was a seven-foot tall mutant who already had blood on both his blades. The aggressor hissed as soon as he saw the ninja. Sub-zero turned to his right and ran, intending for the mutant to pursue him in the hopes that the invader would leave the civilians alone if he was chasing him. Unknown to him, there were plenty more mutants were the first one had come from, since the human did not yet understand the size of the invasion force. The ninja in blue calmly turned the corner around the edge of the large apartment building, with the mutant charging wildly after him. Upon reaching the edge of the building also, the pursuing mutant came to a sudden halt. Streetlights were installed every fifteen yards around the building several years ago to reduce the chances of an apartment dweller being robbed just outside his/her home. The mutant had ceased running because one the streetlights from the side of the building towards which the human ran was projecting a shadow. The long shadow originated from the start of the other side of the building and extended several feet past the edge. This indicated to the mutant that the human was waiting just beyond the edge of the building, probably hoping to attack him as he turned the corner in hot pursuit. So the mutant decided not to run but instead to turn the corner and thrust out his blades in anticipation of the attack by his human target. He jumped around the corner as planned and pushed both arms ahead, his right blade impaling the chest of the human figure around the corner.

The mutant's eyes widened in horror as he realized that he had impaled an ice clone created by his human prey. He finally understood that the human must be one of those talented enough to control the natural elements. He shrieked as he tried to pull his right blade out of the ice clone, but it was already too late. The freezing effect of touching the clone spread from the ice statue through his blade, freezing his arm within an instant. The mutant was only able to give a second, pitiful gasp before his entire body was transformed to ice also. Sub-zero showed himself as he ran towards the frozen mutant from several yards away. The ninja executed a flying kick towards his former pursuer. The bottom of his right foot crashed into the mutant's stomach and pushed his frozen opponent to the ground. The mutant's body shattered into a countless number of pieces as it hit the concrete. Sub-zero gave a slight grimace as he dashed from the scene in search of others.

"Not very high on the evolutionary scale, now is he?", he mentioned about the mutant he had just defeated.

His search for humans to help, as well as his run ahead, was cut short when the silhouette of a large Shokanite appeared in the darkened sky. It only took the ninja an instant to realize that the airborne Shokanite was jumping in the hopes of crushing him under his weight. Thinking fast, Sub-zero halted and jumped to his left, rolling away on the ground after having turned his body into a ball. He was lucky not be any later because his opponent landed on the same spot where he formerly stood only a fraction of a second later. The ninja actually felt the ground shaking at the moment of impact when the giant figure crashed feet-first on the concrete. Swiftly standing back up just six steps away from his adversary, the human looked at the Shokanite who had nearly crushed him. The four-armed monster had stripes all over him, something the ice ninja had never seen before, and the spiked shoulder pads only served to make him look even scarier to his enemies. For the first time in his life, Sub-zero had run into an individual whom he was not sure he could freeze totally with one of his frozen projectiles or ice clone.

"I could sense you from a distance!", Kintaro growled at the human, "You have the talent, which means you were probably involved in the tournament!".

"Huh?", the ninja was confused.

"Are you the one who killed my older brother?", the head of the Shokanites demanded.

"I don't even know who your brother is", the ninja replied as he took several steps backwards while in his fighting stance.

"Do not play games!", Kintaro ordered, pointing at him, "I will make your death all the more painful if you are not honest!".

"Is that supposed to scare me?", the human showed no sign of his fear.

Kintaro reasoned that if the ninja he was talking to had been the one who killed his older brother, he would've been bragging about it already. The fact that Sub-zero did not indicated to the Shokanite that this was the wrong human.

"Where are the others?", Kintaro demanded next, desiring to know the locations of all the human Mortal Kombat survivors.

"Where are _who_?", the ninja was confused again.

"That is it!", the larger invader roared, "You have tested my patience! For that, you will pay!".

Kintaro rushed forward, intending to grab the relatively minuscule human and destroy him with one quick blow.

"Oh, hell!", Sub-zero realized he had to act now, or else it would've been too late.

The ninja pressed his wrists together and yanked his hands open, concentrating as much freezing power as he could muster through them. The frozen molecules shot out of his hand, heading for Kintaro's position. The Shokanite, though, proved to be the faster of the two as he jumped nearly vertically into the air. Sub-zero's frozen rain hit the side of the apartment building and froze a section of the wall. Realizing that the Shokanite was planning to crush him under his great weight again, the human somersaulted backwards an instant before Kintaro landed on the spot where he had been. The ground shook again as the ninja landed back on his feet several yards away from the combative invader. Sub-zero screamed to fire himself up before he executed a flying kick towards the larger opponent who had not regained his total balance yet. The ninja's extended foot crashed into the Shokanite's chest and sent Kintaro falling down backwards with a grunt.

Seeing the invader on his back, the human did not wait long enough to see his reaction. The ninja gracefully landed on his feet and bolted away as fast as he could. Kintaro grudgingly stood back up as he watched the human flee. He knew he might have been able to catch up to him if he jumped enough times, but doing so would cost him much energy. He wanted to be vigilant, especially now, to enjoy the large amount of killings that had to be done. Besides, he reasoned to himself, the humans who were in the tenth tournament would probably be killed during the invasion of the Earth realm anyway.

Running hastily, Sub-zero heard what sounded like gunfire to his ears. Turning his face around behind him, he could see that the giant Shokanite wasn't following. He knew that none of the invaders carried or even knew how to use firearms, so the gunfire was evidence of human resistance. He listened closely without bothering to stop until he pinpointed the direction the noise was coming from. Realizing that it was from the left, the ninja turned to the left and kept running.

Within two minutes, the ninja ran across the source of the gunfire without stopping for the many human bodies which already littered the streets. He spotted a police station with a considerable number of dead Centaurs and mutants in front of it. He also observed four peace officers who were surrounded by a considerably larger number of invaders as approximately a score of other peace officers lay dead in the street. The four officers only had a short amount of time before the Centaurs overcame them, and Sub-zero knew it. The ninja swiftly placed his wrists together again and sent forth a frozen pattern against the two horsemen who were closest to the peace officers. Both Centaurs froze solid as they were within an arm's reach of the four humans. Peace officers and invaders alike stopped and turned to see what happened. Getting the humans' attention was good because the ninja could now signal them instructions.

"COME MY WAY!", Sub-zero yelled towards them as he let loose a second attack of ice.

The third closest Centaur to the officers was frozen solid in an instant as the ninja pushed his limit in terms of the number of ice projectiles he was throwing forth. Unsure about the occurrences, but knowing he had no other choice, Pensky pushed Olsen and the two other officers towards the ice ninja before following them. The young officer hated having to leave his dead comrades behind, since one of them was the officer who had saved his life by shooting a mutant after the Shokanite had uppercut him.

All four human resistance fighters bolted towards the newcomer in blue as the invaders gave chase, unwilling to let the vermin live after they had caused so much trouble. The ninja stood still and focused his energy on organizing yet another ice projectile to protect the four humans since a Centaur had galloped dangerously close to them. With a scream, Sub-zero let loose another large sheet of frozen rain. The white particles came dangerously close to hitting Olsen, but missed the detective, which was what mattered. The Centaur who was catching up to the humans with his horns lowered froze on his tracks as he was hit dead-on when the four officers reached the ninja and all five ran as far away from the invaders as possible.

The remaining mutants and Centaurs were not about to let the five humans go, though, despite the power that was shown by the new native in the blue outfit. They reasoned that, after all, five humans could not sustain resistance forever when they were still hopelessly outnumbered. With the closest invader being a mutant who was fifteen steps away from the five fleeing targets, Sub-zero decided that he had to use his talent one last time to save his fellow human beings. The ninja stopped and turned around as he brought his wrists together. Widening his hands, he aimed down towards the ground starting from ten yards to his left and let loose a powerful output of ice. With the sheet of ice still exiting his hands, he quickly swung his arms towards the right in a clockwise motion until the entire width of the street was turned to ice. Such a display of his talent might've been too much under ordinary circumstances, but this was the obvious exception since he had to pick between using his talent or dying. Pensky and the other officers had slowed down and then turned when they saw him stopping since they feared he was injured, but the ninja motioned they to go ahead.

"Do not stop! Do not stop!", he advised as he twisted his upper body towards them.

Before resuming his run, the ninja also closed his eyes. Even though he was drenched in a cold sweat from the overuse of his talent, he created an ice clone of himself which stood just after the artificial icy width of the street. The first mutant who arrived chasing after them saw the ice which covered the ground for the next six yards before eyeing the human in the blue outfit who was responsible for it. Thinking he could just keep on running, the pursuer stepped on the ice without worrying about the consequences. His actions cost him because he immediately slipped and saw his legs shooting upwards into the air as his upper body crashed down on the ground. The next invader who reached the icy barrier was a Centaur. Confident that he could jump over six yards with ease, the horseman leapt over the frozen obstacle. Unfortunately for him, he was only looking at the width of the street which was covered with ice and not the second hurdle which lay ahead. If he had, he would've seen that his forward jump was bringing him into a head-on collision with the ice clone which waited just after the first barrier.

The Centaur did not know the purpose of the clone, thinking it was only an artificial snowman that he could simply smash through. As his lower horse-like body collided with the head of the ice statue while he was still in midair, he was immediately turned to ice himself. The frozen Centaur kept flying through the air for five more yards before he crashed back down on the asphalt street. He landed on his lower horse-like body and shattered the lower half of his figure into several pieces until only the upper human-like section remained intact. At the same time, the first mutant who had slipped on the ice stood up carefully and dared to take a step forward, only to crash back down on the ice again.

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Johnny slammed on the brakes as he spotted the first invader while driving down the fairly busy street. The actor was surprised to see a Centaur appearing out of nowhere, even more so to see that he was presently in the company of mutants. Trying to hide his shock and doing a good job of it, Johnny turned the steering wheel to the left and quickly stepped on the brakes several times as he recovered his composure. Having him lift his foot after the sudden stepping on the brake and pumping it gently many times a second was what kept his vehicle from skidding like most other cars had done.

Once stopped, both kombatants sprang out of the vehicle as the sounds of chaos overtook their surroundings. Johnny ducked to the left and then jumped aside as a gigantic Centaur drove his fist downward aimed at his head. The invader's fist caused a large dent in the roof of the car as the actor was well out of harm's way. Turning his face to see the direction that his target leapt towards, the Centaur didn't get to strike again because he saw the smaller human executing a flying kick aimed at his midsection. The horseman grunted and bent down as Johnny's foot impacted into his stomach before the human landed back on his feet. Taking advantage of the situation, the actor then grabbed the Centaur's thick neck and sent the lowered head through the window of the car he had been driving. The invader's head easily smashed through the glass as the horseman groaned with embarrassment rather than with pain. The groan then turned to a scream as the horseman gripped one of the doors of the vehicle while his head was still inside of it through the broken glass. Raising his head, the invader lifted his edge of the car until he pulled his head out of the window. His next move was to toss the vehicle up and forward so the car landed on its side with a violent crash.

"You'll never be popular if you keep showing off like that", Johnny commented as his four-legged opponent targeted him again.

Before the invader could attempt another strike, the kombatant sent a low roundhouse kick aimed at his midsection, the result of which was that the Centaur lost his balance. The invader staggered several steps to the side and back as the human stepped towards him, eager to finish the confrontation. At the same time, Johnny heard another yell from behind him which, quickly judging from the intensity of the scream, told the actor that its source was not human. The warcry was also getting louder, which meant the individual screaming was charging towards him from behind. Realizing that the second aggressor was very close to his back, the actor decided he did not have enough time to turn around to counterstrike. Instead, the human dipped low as he performed an instantaneous leg split. He looked up to see a mutant who had charged towards him with both blades held in a horizontal position. The second invader was surprised of the human's ability to get out of the way as easily as Johnny did. Thus, the mutant was not able to stop his forward rush and both his blades ended up stabbing into the Centaur's stomach, though the horseman's tough flesh kept the knives from impaling him.

Ignoring the Centaur's first cry of pain, the actor then executed a leg sweep which knocked both of the mutant's legs out from under him. The second invader's blades were involuntarily pulled out of the Centaur as he fell down on his back at the same time that Johnny stood up. Looking down at the mutant, the human lifted his right foot before smashing the bottom of his right shoe into the invader's mouth. The kombatant heard a satisfying crack as the mutant's teeth broke under the impact and the second invader was knocked unconscious.

Liu, in the meantime, saw that the first invader to rush towards him as he exited the vehicle was a seven-foot tall mutant. The aggressor swung with his right blade, aiming for the monk's head, but was too slow. Liu ducked low and he heard the sound of the knife sailing through the air several inches over his hair. The human then jumped up as the mutant's right arm was still pointing towards the left side of his own body. Reaching about two vertical feet into the air, the kombatant raised his left leg in a front kick which crashed into the mutant's face. The invader's head violently snapped backwards as Liu saw blood gushing out of his mouth. The mutant took two steps back before the monk rushed up and slightly bent his own legs as he wrapped both arms around the invader's stomach. With a moan, the kombatant lifted the surprised invader on his shoulders and turned around, looking for a suitable target to throw the heavier individual against. Spotting a Centaur approximately fifteen steps ahead who was about to land his front legs on a civilian, the monk took three hurried steps towards him. Liu and the mutant both screamed as the monk threw the 300 pound invader towards the horseman. The mutant flew through the air before his chest crashed into the Centaur's stomach and sent the four-legged invader staggering backwards.

Then, Liu caught sight of Johnny's vehicle, which was resting on its edge several yards away. He also spotted another Centaur who was galloping towards his fellow kombatant from several steps away from the opposite side of the vehicle. Johnny had just finished knocking a mutant senseless as a previous Centaur lay on the ground behind him in a green pool of blood. The monk was afraid that the actor would not see the second horseman in time. Thus, Liu leapt forward in as powerful a flying kick as he could afford, although he knew very well that the charging Centaur and the actor were too far to be reached by a single aerial kick. His extended leg met the already dented roof of the car before he landed back on his feet. Reacting to the energy put forth, the vehicle skidded on the ground away from the monk while still resting on its side. The car glided amid sparks created by its friction with the street before it crashed into the Centaur who was charging for the actor.

The four-legged invader screamed with anger as the vehicle smashed into him and halted his forward rush. The invader fell down on his side opposite the one from where the car had hit him before he saw the vehicle coming down on top of him as well. The car then rested on a slanted angle as it became still on top of the horseman. Outraged, the Centaur screamed again as he stood up and pushed the vehicle off him. This time, the shove he gave was enough to propel the car until it landed upside down on its roof. The insulted invader ignored the reason that the vehicle had collided into him and turned his attention back on the actor as he wore a menacing expression on his face. The facial expression was all he had time for because the next thing he saw was Johnny flying towards him in a shadow kick which slammed into his chest. The Centaur grunted as he landed hard on the ground, pain originating in his chest and then spreading through the rest of his body. Remembering Scott's actions against Qarro back in Outworld, Johnny then gripped his adversary's horns before slamming the invader's face on the ground. He was unsure whether the horseman was dead or just unconscious, but the invader didn't move after that.

Despite the successful resistance created by both kombatants, a human victory over an invader was the exception rather than the rule. Everywhere they looked, the two fighters saw humans lying either in a pool of blood or with their bodies crushed. With only five human beings left at the scene other than him or Liu, Johnny decided he should try to evacuate using one of the vehicles he spotted which seemed to still be operational. The actor rushed forward and tackled the mutant who was about to execute a middle-aged woman. The invader crashed on his side with the kombatant on top of him as Johnny was only thinking of trying to get leave the scene with as many survivors as possible. He swiftly stood up and grabbed the human's hand, guiding her towards the vehicle which he saw as their only chance. Liu, in the meantime, realized what his partner was trying to do and thought it wise. The monk ran and simply picked up a child who was about ten years old as another mutant was about to decapitate him. The White Lotus member turned to the only other man left in the area and yelled at him to follow them since he saw the remaining two humans in the group of five survivors being put to death at that instant.

Realizing he couldn't afford to worry about those who had already died, Johnny reached the vehicle he planned to use. Opening the door, he saw that its unfortunate driver lay spread on the seat with a stab wound which had impaled his throat, obviously the work of a mutant. He didn't have the time to feel sorry for that dead stranger, so the actor was forced to pull the driver out of the seat. He guided the woman behind him through the bloody front driver's side seat and climbed in himself as she went further until she reached the front passenger seat. Liu arrived just in time and practically threw the ten-year old screaming child into her lap. Noticing that both back doors were locked, and not wanting to take the time to unlock them the conventional way, Liu used his elbow to break the window of one of the doors. The monk pushed his hand through the broken glass and unlocked the door as the third man managed to reach the car as well. With the door then opened, the man climbed into the backseat and the monk was about to follow him. Johnny shifted the vehicle into a driving position after seeing a countless number of Centaurs and mutants approaching.

"Come on, Liu, get in!", the actor advised from behind the wheel, "We're outta here!".

As the monk was about to jump into the backseat also, he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around to see an eight-foot tall Shokanite who had just landed on the spot of the road just in front of the hood of the vehicle. The four-armed giant might have been able to stop the car from moving for several seconds, thus giving his fellow Centaurs and mutants enough time reach the vehicle. All three civilians in the car were terrified and screamed at the sight of the new invader they saw as Johnny narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth in surprise. Realizing he could not allow the presence of the Shokanite to cost the lives of everyone else, Liu closed the back door of the vehicle without climbing into the backseat.

"GO!", the monk ordered as he spoke to his fellow kombatant.

"LIU!", Johnny screamed back, "YOU C...".

"I SAID 'GO', JONATHAN!", Liu interrupted him.

The White Lotus member flew towards the huge Shokanite with his right leg extended ahead of the rest of his body. His foot slammed into the invader's chest as the Shokanite staggered backwards under the impact. Leaving enough room to maneuver the vehicle, Johnny did as he was told and pressed his foot on the accelerator. The car sped off, past Centaurs and mutants who were rushing towards it in an effort to exterminate the last humans on the scene. The right side of the hood ran through the leg of a mutant who was brave enough to try to stand in the path of the speeding vehicle. Johnny wasn't concerned about the injury inflicted against that invader, though. The actor felt a tear coming down each eye as he looked into the rearview mirror. It showed a shrinking reflection of Liu as the monk executed a roundhouse kick against the Shokanite and other invaders closed in around him.

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Princess Kitana did not like the feeling that appeared in her stomach as she heard the vibrations in the sky of the realm of Outworld. She remembered the only other time she had experienced such an emotion. It was when she knew that Motaro was unbalancing the furies by using millions of portals to invade the Earth realm with his army of Centaurs. She told herself that Motaro could not have devised a second invasion across the realms since he was dead. There was only one other individual who had the capacity to unbalance the furies, and that was her adoptive father. She reasoned that emperor Shao Kahn must be invading the Earth realm in order to collect the large number of souls it contained so he could make himself even more powerful. The inhabitants of the Earth realm were not perfect, just like the residents of every other realm in existence, but Kahn's plan to conquer their souls would obliterate all of them.

Kitana had a personal as well as an ethical reason to be disgusted by the emperor's actions. She still clearly remembered the four fighters from the Earth realm who had visited her Outworld to help in her battle against the mutants and Qarro. She owed them nothing at this point. Her debt to those humans was paid since she had returned the favor by participating in Earth's resistance against Motaro's invasion. Still, though, telling herself that her debt was paid indicated that she and those Earth natives were only professional associates. Friends, on the other hand, did favors for each other without expecting anything in return. Besides, she thought, Liu was one of those Earth humans and she couldn't stand the idea of leaving him alone while he was in danger.

"Is something disturbing you, my princess?", a question brought her out of her deep thoughts.

Kitana turned to see Wreath standing a few feet away. The young Outworlder had noticed the concerned look on her face and, as usual, felt compelled to help.

"Yes", Kitana told her, returning her attention back to the sky, "It's Kahn. He's in Earth".

"What are your plans?", the Outworlder asked next.

"I want to go to Earth and find our allies there, to help them", the princess was frank.

"I will come with you", Wreath flatly announced.

Kitana took a few moments to consider the choices in her mind. Wreath's intentions were definitely good, but she practically possessed no fighting skills. Taking her into the middle of a warzone would not be right. The young Outworlder was lucky to have survived the battle which had taken place in her home realm to begin with. So Princess Kitana locked eyes with Wreath and shook her own head.

"I must protest!", the young Outworlder exclaimed, as expected.

"I cannot risk your life in this, Wreath", Kitana explained.

"It is my life to risk, thus my decision", the eager native argued, "Correct?".

"It will be easier for me if I'm the only one I have to worry about", the princess reasoned.

Wreath did not answer.

"Besides, I need to make sure this realm is in good hands when I'm away", Kitana continued, "I need someone I can trust to leave in charge".

The young Outworlder obviously saw the princess' attempt to keep her back by providing her with a supposedly more important responsibility.

"Do this for me", Kitana told her, "Please?".

"Fine, my princess", Wreath delighted her by agreeing, "As you wish".

Creating the portal that headed towards the Earth was relatively easy. Kitana stood in front of it dressed in her favorite military clothes consisting of black pants and a sleeveless leather ensemble above the waistline. After a sincere parting with Wreath, the princess walked into the bright entryway. She had to admit to herself that it would've been useful to have Wreath around to watch her back until she found Liu and the others. She had already made up her mind that the young Outworlder was not going to be put in danger this time, though. She stepped through the portal expecting to see the desolate warzone that Earth became after the onset of Kahn's invasion.

She was half correct. The Earth realm had turned into a warzone, but it was not desolate. Kitana found herself staring at four seven-foot tall mutants who were waiting for her with their blades raised. She asked herself how they could've known the spot she picked to use her portal. There was just no way for the mutants to keep a track of her, especially when they didn't even know she was coming.

"Emperor Kahn warned us you might be on your way here", the head mutant spoke, pointing both yard-long blades in her direction, "We were put in charge of making sure you did not get involved".

"I see", the princess replied, sounding more confident than she felt.

"By order of emperor Kahn, turn around and leave this realm", the same mutant spoke with a menacing grin, "Or we have permission to restrain you any way we choose".

"Well", Kitana smoothly opened two razor-brimmed fans, one in each hand.

She held the left fan in front of her chest and lifted the other fan over her head as she bent her right elbow. The mutants' eyes widened as they were pleasantly surprised at her response. They now had a reason to tear her to pieces.

"You may attack when ready, then", she dared.

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Liu, in the meantime, kept up with the offensive as he delivered a sharp kick into the Shokanite's midsection. The monk recalled that, although very large, his current opponent was not as big or as aggressive as Goro had been. In fact, this four-armed adversary was slow and did not seem to possess the endurance needed to stay alert in a confrontation. After receiving a mere three blows from his smaller human enemy, the invader lost his ability to attack decisively. He swung blindly into the air with his upper left fist, hoping that he would get lucky and be able to strike the native's head with it. Seeing the assault, Liu easily ducked out of its way and intentionally dropped on the ground. Resting both palms and the left knee against the ground, the monk kicked out with his right leg, his right foot slamming hard into the invader's knee.

The large Shokanite screamed out in pain as he bent down, desperately grasping his injured knee and completely forgetting about his human opponent. Liu took advantage of the invader's inability to cope with pain as he sprang back up to his feet and delivered a devastating uppercut into the Shokanite's face. The four-armed giant's torso snapped backwards under the impact of Liu's fist and he found himself falling on the ground flat on his back. The White Lotus monk then turned away from his defeated opponent to concentrate on the Centaurs and mutants who were sure to surround him. Before he was able to react to the large number of new opponents, he felt a large fist grabbing the collar of his shirt from behind. He turned his face and saw the Centaur who had him in a solid grip. The horseman single-handedly tossed the monk into the air, hoping to injure him as much as possible.

Liu yelled as he flew into the air and landed on the hard ground a dozen steps away. Panting, he pulled himself up to his feet and stood in his fighting stance as he readied for the platoon of mutants who rushed towards him. With his attention turned to the invaders in front of him, the monk never saw the Centaur who was behind him. That horseman turned his right hand into a fist and delivered a crippling punch into the back of the human's head. Liu saw stars as his head snapped back and the rest of his body crashed forward on his stomach. Under the cheers of his fellow invaders, the Centaur bent down and picked up the defeated monk. Lifting the native two feet into the air, he was so busy showing off to his teammates as he prepared to headbutt the human that he didn't hear the sound of rotors approaching.

None of the Centaurs or mutants at the scene heard the Army Apache helicopter as it came closer to their area with every passing moment. By the time any one of the invaders noticed the strange noise, the attack helicopter was hovering above their position. With a blunt noise, the two occupants of the helicopter shone a powerful light on the large number of invaders who helplessly squinted their eyes and looked up. The Centaur who held the near-unconscious monk dropped Liu as his own attention had turned to the helicopter. Thus, the occupants in the hovering machine never saw that there was still a live human in the area.

Without a warning, the helicopter opened fire using its 30 mm chain machine gun. The first individuals hit below were the two mutants who screamed as their chest exploded in a gory mess. The gunman within the helicopter hit a Centaur with the chain rounds also, but the horseman only fell on his side with a scream before standing again. He was seriously hurt, but still alive. Not liking the fact that a Centaur would survive an attack where only bullets were used, the gunner also grabbed the controls to the seventy active rockets the helicopter carried. With the squeeze of a button, a rocket was launched and exploded into the injured Centaur, tearing the horseman's upper body to pieces. A second rocket was launched and struck the chest of the Centaur who had assaulted Liu from behind. The horseman's chest and head were obliterated as his lower horse-like body with only the stomach of a human attached to it fell on forward. The remains of that invader landed partly on Liu's figure as the monk still hadn't moved.

Liu saw the carcass landing on him, though he didn't feel the impact. His ears still registered the screams from the terrified mutants and Centaurs as the predators had suddenly become the prey. The monk heard dozens of invaders trying to retreat as a relentless barrage of 30 mm bullets and rockets followed them. He also heard the number of invaders who were getting killed. After the dead Centaur landed on him, Liu started counting. He heard one scream of an invader who was hit. Then a second. Then a third. Then a fourth. He lost count after the fourth scream because many shrill cries were heard at once afterwards. The monk thought to himself that the attack from the helicopter was fine. After all, the invaders were being shown the same amount of mercy they had shown to the humans they had previously confronted.

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Kitana, in the meantime, threw the fan in her right hand as she observed all four mutants rushing towards her. The fan glided through the air before meeting the neck of the leftmost mutant and easily decapitated that invader. As his head fell off his shoulders, the mutant's body stopped advancing and first crashed down on his knees before coming to a complete rest on his stomach. As the three other mutants reached her, she stood on her left foot alone and sent her right leg into the stomach of the invader at her right. While that one bent down, gasping for breath, the princess swayed the fan in her left hand. The razor edge of the left fan cut through the chest of the mutant at the very left in an explosion of blood. That one screamed as the fan cut through his flesh until it touched his spinal cord. After she pulled the left fan out of him, that leftmost invader of the three staggered back as he left a trail of blood in his path before he collapsed.

She then saw the mutant who was the middle one of the three swinging his right blade, aiming for her neck. Kitana closed the left fan before it instantly vanished in her hand. She then ducked and executed a leg sweep, knocking his legs out from under him as the mutant she had previously kicked in the stomach recovered. With the mutant who was on the receiving end of the leg sweep still on the floor, the last standing invader who had recuperated thought the kill was his. He found out he was wrong because she executed a front kick into the same area of his stomach before he was able to swing either one of his blades. He staggered backwards as the mutant who had been swept then stood up. Seeing him on his feet as the other mutant rushed back towards her, the Outworld princess knew she had to react fast. She executed a continuous cartwheel backwards, greatly increasing the distance between her and them with each passing instant. Both mutants angrily gave chase, though they were traveling slower on foot.

Kitana stopped the backward cartwheel when she saw herself nearing a large brick wall. She stood straight and quickly walked backwards until her upper back was flat against the wall. Seeing her there, both mutants were encouraged as they rushed ahead, each with two blades eagerly waiting to taste blood. When they were three steps from her, she jumped into the air following the path of a large semicircle. She curled her body into a ball as she sailed over their head and landed several steps behind them. Both mutants stopped in time to keep from slamming into the wall, but she had them exactly where she wanted. The fan appeared in her left hand before Kitana opened it. Exhaling hard, she threw the fan towards them. Both mutants gasped and jumped aside, so the fan struck the brick wall behind them. The two invaders thought she had missed her intended target and were about to stand back up. Before they got a chance to rise to their feet, though, the entire wall behind them collapsed. Both mutants screamed as they were buried under hundreds of red bricks. Kitana hadn't missed her intended target after all. The fan returned to her hand and she closed it before it vanished in her palm. She anxiously rotated herself away from the destroyed wall and the two invaders who were entombed under it. She still wanted to find Liu and the others.

She returned to the bright portal which she had used and lifted her right forearm horizontally in front of her stomach. The right fan appeared in her palm as she opened it and concentrated into the portal.

"We are in the Earth realm", she spoke into the portal, "Find my friends".

With those words, Kitana threw the right fan into the portal before following it.

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The first sound Sheeva remembered hearing was her deep moan as she opened her eyes since it hurt to just push her eyelids open. Slightly lifting her face off the blood-soaked concrete, the Shokanite slowly twisted her head to the left. The pounding at the back of her head would not cease as she looked as high up as possible towards the sky. The pitch black color of the sky had turned to dark blue, indicating that the sun was about to rise. Swearing at herself for being unconscious for so long, the Shokanite bent her four arms at the elbow in an effort to lift her upper body. She had temporarily forgotten about the bullet wound in the left shoulder, but soon remembered it as she arched her torso upwards away from the bloody ground. The torn flesh which had been devastated by a bullet first and a knife second protested in pain as she was forced to stretch her upper body while arching it upwards.

Sheeva hissed loudly at the pain as she suddenly recalled the amount of blood that she must've lost because of that particular wound. A pool of blood with a radius of about two yards surrounded her as she first rose on her knees. Looking around, the Shokanite surveyed her surroundings. Among several dead natives lay about half a dozen Centaur corpses and over a score of dead mutants. Across the street, the scene carried the distinct view of a massacre as dozens of more natives rested in their own blood amid the overturned vehicles and smashed walls. Doing her best to wipe the blood on her face way with her upper right hand, Sheeva shakily rose to her feet. A fair distance away, her eyes saw a Centaur who lay in the middle of the street. Despite the battered condition of her sight, she still noticed that only the horseman's upper, human-like body remained. Below his midsection was a large pool of blood, internal organs and bones.

Taking a few moments to get used to the torturous explosions which still occurred at the back of her head in regular intervals, Sheeva looked around towards the ground. She was in search of anything that could be used to try to control the bleeding from her left shoulder. The only items she spotted were the clothes that the dead humans wore, but they were all soaked in the natives' blood. Not wanting to risk contaminating her own body by exposing it to the blood of the defiled natives, she turned around and headed inside the building in front of which the natives had previously stood. She was surprised that it took so much effort for her to merely walk as she pushed the main door open. Once inside, the Shokanite scanned the area for anything useful, being especially wary in case some natives had hid inside the building with weapons. Hearing nothing, she soon became convinced she was the only individual there.

One item Sheeva saw was a large and rectangular banner which was covered with stripes of red and white, except for its upper left section, which was blue and filled with stars. Still groaning with anger, she limped towards it since it was across the large room. Upon reaching it, she swore since she just realized that it was hung about fifteen feet in the air. Looking up, she slightly bent her knees before jumping up towards it. She easily reached the edge of the banner and held on to it with her upper left hand. Her grip tore it off the spot on the wall it was attached to as she came back down. Landing back on the floor with the banner in her left grasp, she landed on her feet as usual but her legs then buckled under the pressure. Sheeva yelled as she found herself crashing on her side, swearing at the humans who had made her lose so much blood from the shoulder wound.

Grudgingly standing up, she noticed that the wound still had not stopped bleeding. Working as carefully and quickly as she could afford, the Shokanite wrapped the colorful banner around her left shoulder, making it as tight as possible. Hoping that the makeshift bandage would be enough to stop the bleeding, Sheeva turned around and walked back outside, eager to hunt more natives down.

Once outside the building and staring at the battle ground again, she began thinking. The Shokanite reasoned that some Centaurs and mutants obviously survived the battle with the armed natives. She had seen many more invaders in the area during her confrontation with the humans than were lying dead on the street at the present time. So, she asked herself why none of the invaders who had survived bothered to come back for her. If any members of emperor Kahn's army returned to the scene to check for her vital signs, they would've realized that she was still alive. Instead, she was left behind where she might have bled to death if she had not woken up. Sheeva told herself that there was a serious lack of concern shown towards her by the members of the emperor's army whom she had saved by attacking the natives. She ran towards a direction picked at random and could already feel adrenaline rushing through her system. She eagerly looked forward to her next meeting with the natives.

After running through deserted streets for several blocks, the first individual she saw was a human who was dressed in the same outfit that the natives in the semicircle had on. The man withdrew a weapon much like the one that had been previously used to injure her in the shoulder. Sheeva leapt, determined to kill him before he got a chance to kill her.

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The alarm clock sounded at precisely 6AM, feeling like an explosion in Sonya's mind because of her hangover. She was still half-asleep when she opened her eyes for the first time. Her initial reaction was to ignore the alarm in the hopes that it might perhaps stop by itself and she could go back to sleep. After several seconds of hoping for quiet and being disappointed, she remembered where she was as well as where she needed to be in a short time. She grudgingly told herself that she needed to get out of bed.

"OH, SHUT UP!", Sonya yelled as she quickly sat up in bed before turning the alarm off.

The pounding headache still remained after the annoying siren from the clock had quieted down, as she expected it to be. Moaning, the Special Forces lieutenant crawled out of bed as she scratched her blond hair, as if hoping that scratching her head would rid her of the headache. It never worked the countless number of times she had woken up with a hangover, and this occasion was no different. She still had not recovered her balance as she stood up, so she was forced to stagger to the bathroom and use one hand against the wall for support. On the way to her destination, she used the other hand to grab the folded black tank top and pants which served as her uniform.

Once finally bent down over the washbasin, Sonya turned the cold water on and gathered as much as possible in between her cupped hands. Holding her breath, she splashed handfuls of water on her face as well the base of her hair before standing up straight and looking at her reflection in the mirror. The circles under her eyes which were there the previous night were still there now, and she thought the old cut on her left cheek was actually spreading to the rest of her face. She then told herself that such a situation was impossible and she would do best by stopping the crazy beliefs.

It took her about as long as it should have to be back in her bedroom with the dark uniform on. Her headache was slowly subsiding, as expected, while she was seated on the edge of the bed and tying the knots for the Army boots. A five-inch switchblade knife was already strapped to her left ankle inside that boot, as had been her standard uniform ever since she got reinstated in the military. As Sonya then stood up and began constraining her hair in a tail at the back of her head, she thought that it'd be nice to have some fresh air in the room. Thus, she walked over to the only window and proceeded to open it. She froze as she looked outside through the glass.

"Huh?", her eyes narrowed as she pushed the window upwards, thus feeling the small amount of wind that was available outside.

Next to the rising sun, Sonya saw the top half of the red and immobile tornado for the first time as it stood above the trees and other obstructions. She did not understand the implications of the surprising sight for a few moments, but she then spotted an eight-foot tall Centaur smashing a parked vehicle across the street from her home. The car was unoccupied as the horseman turned it to a pile of dented metal within seconds. The invader then galloped away, probably in search of more rewarding prey. Sonya gasped as she quickly pulled herself away from the window and flattened her upper back against the wall next to it.

"Not good", she said out loud, "Nooooot good".

Another invasion was started during the night, and she had missed it since she was lying in bed, too drunk to be awake. Ignoring the remnants of the headache which still remained, the lieutenant rushed to her bed before reaching under the pillow and withdrawing her spare 9mm Glock pistol. Checking to make sure the clip was full, she headed outside knowing that she must report to the local Army headquarters, assuming that it wasn't reduced to rubble already. She told herself that it was better for her to join the fight late than to never join it at all.

The first individual she ran into once outside was a mutant who rushed towards her with a growl and both blades pointing forward. From five yards away, she was quick to point the handgun towards him before pulling the trigger once. The single bullet tore through the mutant's stomach before it exited out of his lower back, bringing him down on his knees before he could take his next step. He pressed both his hands on the bullet wound, though that did not slow the flow of blood from the stomach, and certainly not the flow of blood from his lower back. Not understanding how a mutant found a place in the Centaurs' army, and not caring, the human decided not to waste any more ammunition on him. Instead, Sonya casually walked up to her injured adversary and looked him evenly in the eyes as he still stood on his knees and bled. Twisting to her left, she kicked him in the head, knocking the mutant down on his side with a groan as her right ankle met his jaw. Her right thigh protested from the sudden use as she felt it get sore, but she ignored it at the moment.

The mutant turned on his stomach as he helplessly coughed blood and tried to rise. He groaned and pushed on his hands hard for several moments until he succeeded on rising on his hands and knees. His human opponent, though, was not impressed. She sent a swift kick into his face, decimating whatever strength he had left. His face snapped towards the sky before he crashed back down on his stomach. He lay there bleeding to death as she walked away from him, firearm at the ready for other invaders.

Walking quickly helped warm up the muscles in her legs, which was good because she couldn't afford to stop and stretch at the moment. Sonya's face kept turning incessantly to cover all around her as she did not see anyone, human or invader alike. It was almost as if everyone in the city had vanished into thin air. The uneasy peace and quiet, though, did not last long as she heard what sounded like a human scream from two blocks away. Bending her right elbow in order to aim the pistol in her hand towards the sky, she ran towards the source of the sound, hoping she was not too late...

Upon reaching the scene, Sonya stopped and saw that the origin of the scream was forty yards away. The lieutenant's eyes widened as she found herself staring at a female Shokanite who was engaged in a struggle against a metropolitan policeman. The officer's handgun rested on the ground several yards away from him, so as to be out of his reach. Instead, the human had withdrawn a nightstick which he tried to swing at his larger opponent's head.

"Shokanites now too?", Sonya asked herself, "What is this, a unified freaks strike against Earth?".

Before she was even able to level the Glock towards the four-armed invader, the policeman Sheeva was dueling against delivered a blow to her head with the nightstick. Such a strike would've been enough to knock an ordinary human unconscious, but the Shokanite's bloodied face only snapped to the side. She gripped the edge of the nightstick with her lower left hand before the officer was able to pull it back. Tugging at the weapon, Sheeva pulled it out of the human's hand, but had no idea how to use it herself. Instead of attacking him with it, she held the two opposite ends of the nightstick by using her two lower hands before breaking it in half with ease. The officer's eyes widened in horror as he witnessed the true extent of her strength as Sonya already had her 9mm firearm aimed at the Shokanite's chest.

Before she was able to open fire, though, Sheeva spotted the arrival of the second human and recognized the weapon the female human was using. It was the same kind of weapon which the previous humans had used to kill several Centaurs and mutants, as well injure her. Not wanting to be wounded by such a weapon again, the Shokanite rushed forward and grabbed the smaller human she had been fighting with. Single-handedly lifting the first human into the air, she turned towards the direction of the second human and placed the officer in front of her. Sheeva thus reasoned that, in order to kill her, the second human would have to also kill the first one. She knew very well that if such a case had occurred in the realm of Shokan, then both the hostage and the individual using the hostage would die, but she was now in the Earth realm.

"Use your weapon if you dare!", Sheeva barked as only her head, three arms and feet were visible from behind the police officer.

"Let him go, bitch!", Sonya barked back, aiming the firearm towards the invader but unsure about her abilities to shoot the target in the head from such a distance.

"As you wish", the Shokanite grinned as she placed one of her three free hands around the hostage's head from behind.

Before either Sonya or the first human could react, Sheeva broke her hostage's neck and then released the grip on his body. The officer's corpse fell and lay on the ground as both Sonya and Sheeva screamed at once. The Shokanite jumped up into the air as the human pulled the trigger.

Sheeva was airborne by the time the 9mm bullet hit the area where she formerly stood. Sonya followed her adversary's leap into the air with her face as she ended up having to look upwards very high before realizing the Shokanite was about to land on her. Gasping, the lieutenant blindly jumped backwards and landed on her back three yards away an instant before Sheeva crashed feet-first on the spot where she used to stand. Before the human could stand or point the Glock, the Shokanite rushed ahead and angrily gripped her right wrist with the lower right hand. Sheeva then grabbed the handgun with her upper right hand and tossed the weapon several yards away without letting go of the hold she still had on Sonya's wrist. Once seeing that the firearm was safely out of the human's reach, the Shokanite used her lower right grip on Sonya's wrist to pull the lieutenant up to her feet before tossing her into the air also.

Sonya screamed as she flew in a semicircle before crashing on the hard concrete ten yards away. She felt the painful impact as she believed several of her ribs had been damaged, along with the countless number of cuts and bruises she received. Staggering up to her feet, she saw the lady Shokanite approaching as simple hatred emanated from her opponent's face. Having been used to fighting against opponents who were bigger and stronger, Sonya screamed again as she rushed to meet her adversary. Once close enough, the human twisted to her left and executed an exceptionally high kick with her right leg. Her right ankle collided with Sheeva's jaw, the result of which was almost nonexistent. Grinning a sadistic smile, the Shokanite swung with both her right arms. Sonya somersaulted backwards in time, so the invader's fists met only air. Seeing the bloody flag wrapped around Sheeva's left shoulder for the first time, Sonya then reasoned she might have a vulnerable spot to aim for.

The human stepped towards her opponent and, as Sheeva was about to swing again with an upper right fist, delivered an uppercut into the Shokanite's left armpit. The bullet wound whose bleeding was previously controlled after much hard work tore open as a new explosion of blood emerged from it. Sheeva screamed out in pain, hating the human even more for her actions, as she instinctively pressed her upper right hand against the wound. However, her reaction proved useless, because new green blood soaked the cloth around the wound before falling on the ground next to her left foot. Taking advantage of the distraction, Sonya delivered a powerful front kick into the Shokanite's stomach. As a result, Sheeva bent down, gasping for breath. The human next turned her right hand into a fist as she sent forth a second uppercut, this time aimed for her adversary's face. Sheeva's upper body sharply snapped backwards as her face was momentarily looking at the sky. The pain that officer Pensky had inflicted on her head with a rifle was only worsened.

Enjoying the progress she was making, Sonya executed a swift roundhouse kick as the back of her ankle crashed into the Shokanite's jaw. Her adversary staggered backwards as drops of blood spilled out of her mouth. Roaring, Sheeva ignored all the pain and rushed forward again with four clenched fists. She swung with her upper right fist aimed for the human's head, which Sonya blocked with an alert raising of her own left forearm. As the first fist was blocked, though, the Shokanite's lower right fist slammed into the side of the human's chest, intensifying the pain Sonya felt from her damaged ribs. The human's body was violently pushed upwards and to her right under the massive blow as her legs gave out because of the sudden pain. Sonya involuntarily crashed down on her knees as she saw Sheeva swinging the lower left fist towards her face. The Shokanite's fist landed perfectly on the human's face and knocked Sonya down on her side as she saw blood spilling out of her mouth.

Using her arms to raise her upper body, the human bent her left leg and planted her left knee against the ground. Before the larger Shokanite could capitalize on the advantage that the human's position offered, Sonya swept her extended right leg in a counter-clockwise motion. The human's right ankle met Sheeva's foot and knocked the Shokanite's legs out from under her. Telling herself that she should've been able to avoid the leg sweep, Sheeva crashed down on the ground also. Both human and Shokanite climbed to their feet at the same time. Instead of delivering another punch or kick, though, Sonya turned and ran straight towards the spot where her handgun came to a rest on the ground. Sheeva saw her intended destination and debated whether or not she should try to intercept. She quickly decided against it and jumped upwards and away from the human.

Sonya reached the Glock and swiftly picked it up. Leveling it at arm's length in front of her face with both hands, she aimed in the Shokanite's general direction as the invader was in midair and heading for the opposite direction as hers. The human pulled the trigger once as Sheeva was about to land on the ground about thirty yards away after her first leap. Realizing that she missed, Sonya pulled the trigger four more times as she tried to take more careful aim while the Shokanite was in the middle of her second leap. None of the shots hit their intended target. Sonya swore under her breath as she lowered the handgun.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Johnny led the three individuals into a seemingly abandoned grocery store. The only people inside other than themselves were two young employees who had been knifed to death and were lying in a pool of blood. As grim as it sounded, the kombatant's reasoning had been that he invaders would probably not return to an area where they had already been. So they were probably safer there than anywhere else. His thoughts were still with his fellow kombatant since he wasn't sure of Liu's fate. As talented as he was, the monk's chances of surviving an encounter with dozens of larger opponents were simply not good. All three people were shaken up, as was perfectly understandable, as they sat huddled in an aisle of the store. The man was even a big fan of Johnny's. He had told the actor that he always hoped to meet him one day, but never thought it would be under the current circumstances. That was before he had broken into tears because two of his friends had been trampled on by the first Centaur on the scene.

Trying to keep himself collected, the actor tried to figure out the right way to tell the trio that he had to leave them. All four of them had been uptight until they had driven by the empty grocery store with the open door. Despite the temporary shelter the store offered, the kombatant simply had to return to the street where he had seen Liu last. He was standing up straight as he looked down towards the trio who were seated on a section of the floor which didn't have any blood nearby.

"I have to leave, guys", the actor flatly stated.

"Huh?", his fan replied.

"I have to go back to where we came from", Johnny clarified.

Both the woman and the child cried again. The man shakily stood up and took two steps towards him. Johnny reasoned that he possibly wanted to talk to him in private, but ended up without being able to keep his thoughts to himself.

"What're you, nuts?", the man spoke his mind.

"I have to find my friend", the actor insisted.

"Look", the man violently scratched his head, "I'm sorry about him. He did something great. But I lost my friends too. You can't save him by going back there, he's already dead".

"Probably", the kombatant agreed, "But I have to make sure".

"Come on, man!", the man exclaimed, "Don't be suicidal!".

"If I find his body, at least then I'll know", the actor pressed before he sighed.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"But... But...", the man couldn't think of what to say.

"Look", Johnny sighed again, "I'll leave the car. If, in the future, you three need to jump in there and drive because it's no longer safe here, you got my blessing. Here's the keys".

The actor threw the keys to the man before he turned away from the trio and walked out.

"Good luck", was all the man could think of saying.

Johnny turned around and smiled before exiting.

"Thanks, you too", he replied.

And then he was gone.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

It took the actor almost an hour of running before he found the spot where he had last seen Liu. The area wasn't that far, but the problem was that they had been driving down an unknown street at the moment of the attack, so the actor had a problem retracing his steps from the grocery store. The fact that all streets were littered with bodies, of which three out of four were human, only made the search more difficult. Finally, though, he found the street and was careful when he walked down towards the place where the monk was last seen fighting against the Shokanite. To Johnny's surprise, the street was full of dead Centaurs and mutants as the pungent stench of blood overwhelmed his nose. Trying to hold his breath, and knowing Liu couldn't have done all this damage alone, the actor slowly ran down the street. He was carefully surveying every corpse he encountered in search of the monk.

He finally spotted Liu's face lying immobile under the destroyed lower half of a Centaur. Not even curious as to what happened to the dead horseman's upper body, Johnny rushed towards the spot and kneeled next to the monk. Although he feared the worst, he simply had to place his right middle and index fingers on Liu's throat to make sure his fellow kombatant was dead. The actor's eyes and mouth widened from shock as he realized the White Lotus monk still had a pulse.

"Liu!", he called out as he instinctively squeezed the monk's jaw with his hand in an effort to wake him up.

Liu's eyes sprang open and Johnny heard himself laughing out loud.

"What is so funny?", the monk gasped.

"Just glad to see you alive, that's all", the actor replied as he helped his fellow kombatant to his feet.

"I'm glad to see me alive too", Liu grinned.

"Man! When I thought you were dangerous with all that training of yours, I had no idea you were this dangerous!", Johnny happily pointed towards all the bodies of the invaders which surrounded them, though he knew well that the monk wasn't responsible.

"Just do not make me angry, or this will be the consequence", the monk replied in the same tone of voice.

A brief silence followed before Johnny spoke again.

"So what happened here?", the actor asked seriously.

"It was a helicopter", Liu told him, "Military, I think".

"I'm impressed", the actor went on, "A few more scenes like this and we may not get wiped out after all".

Before Liu was able to warn him that a direct counterstrike may not be enough to win this conflict, a bright portal appeared only yards away from them. As both men stared into it, they saw a paper fan which emerged from the portal before it planted itself into the ground a few feet in front of them. Kitana came out of the portal following the fan a few seconds afterwards and the bright light vanished after she was through it.

"Look who it is", Johnny smiled, "Come to join us?".

"Of course", she replied.

"Now we may have a chance", Liu went on, always happy to see her, but especially at the present time.

Those were his last words before all three fighters noticed a blemish high in the sky. Despite the deep blue which had already enveloped the environment, the kombatants still saw that the object above them was much darker than the early morning sky. The unknown visitor came closer to the ground, and thus towards them, as it descended slowly. Fearing the worst, all three individuals tried to be ready. Both Johnny and Liu stepped away from each other and turned into a fighting stance to reduce the risk of being shot at simultaneously. Kitana, in her turn, withdrew a fan and distanced herself from both of them. The trio thus formed an almost perfect triangle as their eyes were set on the winged shade. They soon noticed that it was a bird, perhaps a condor, as it floated down towards them and opened its wings. With a wing span of over fifteen yards across, the humans simply had to be impressed at the awesome size of their latest visitor. Rather than having to take on an animal that big, they decided to hold back and make sure it was hostile before attacking, especially since they were not sure they could not kill it.

Fortunately, the giant condor only landed on the street a few steps away from the three humans without showing any signs of hostility. As it scanned the area with the mild curiosity of a tamed animal, a cloaked figure who was apparently riding on top of the bird stood up. The kombatants did not ease away from their ready stance as the individual then jumped on the ground and began walking towards them. As he came closer, Johnny was the first one to gasp as he saw that the person was only a skeleton dressed in a cloak alone.

"I do not wish to do battle with you humans", Hades raised his arms as a gesture of peace as he came to within ten yards of the triangle, "I am here to give you assistance, in fact".

"Is that so?", the actor spoke first, still tense.

"Yes", the deity added, "I was sent by Rayden, I believe you know him well".

"Well enough", Liu said, "Why isn't he here? We could use him now".

"He was...", Hades picked his words carefully, "Held back for now, so I am his messenger until this invasion is over".

"And your assistance is?", Kitana questioned.

"Rayden asked me to advise you humans that one way to defeat Kahn would be to find the gray warrior who is hiding from the emperor in the wastelands of Outworld", Hades gave them the message.

"The gray warrior?", Johnny repeated, relaxing only a little bit, "Does this guy have a name? You know, like Marc, or Lisa, or Archibald?".

"I am afraid that is the only identity I was given", the deity couldn't clarify.

"Great", the actor sighed, "The wastelands of Outworld. So, that's about seven or eight thousand square miles, right?".

"Maybe not", Kitana looked at him, "Not if we know where to look".

"I hope I was able to help", Hades bowed before turning around and walking back towards the waiting condor.

"Thank you", Liu called after him.

"Yeah, same here", Johnny added, "And nice bird. It beats taking a cab any day".

The deity did not reply as he climbed on the condor and the animal spread its giant wings before flying towards the sky.

"Well, that sure was strange, though I can't say surprising any more", the actor told his two fellow kombatants once they were alone.

"So, what now?", Liu thought out loud, "How do we find this warrior he described?".

"There is only one area of my realm where someone who is trying to hide from Kahn could go", Kitana explained, "We call it the Vexed Land. It is a small plot of land that is protected by the magic of the Living Forest. The magic there is so thick that even Kahn's sorcery may not enter".

"You take it that's where this gray dude will be hiding?", Johnny reasoned.

"Most likely", the princess went on, "Of course, there is a problem".

"What's that?", Liu was the first of the two men to ask.

"No one who has ever ventured into the Living Forest returned to recount the tale", Kitana warned, "There was one individual who was rumored to have come back alive, only to be raving about the live wood. It was from his ranting that the name was given to the mysterious place. Unfortunately, he died before I or any members of the council could talk to him. That was two centuries ago, and no one has visited the area since".

"Great, juuuust great!", the actor turned partly away as he raised his arms into the air, "We don't only get to find this gray guy, but we get to be explorers in the meantime also. Trailblazers, if you will. Maybe we should take a map with us and write down our memoirs while we're there. Who knows? They might name a river down there after us in about a thousand years".

"I agree that it is not a pleasant thought, but do we have any other choice?", Liu told them both.

"Apparently not", Kitana closed the fan in her hand.

"We should head there as soon as possible then", the monk advised.

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Sonya was on her way to the Army base, walking quickly, and angrily, as she headed towards her destination. She held the Glock in her right grip as she proceeded past the bodies which could be found everywhere she looked. She had stopped scanning her surroundings in search of invaders ever since her encounter with the female Shokanite.

"They just don't fucking stop, do they?", she barked out loud as she continued her trek down the street, casually stepping over the corpse of a mutant who had been run over by a car, "They can just leave you the fuck alone, but would they do that? Of course not!".

She heard nothing from her surroundings. It was as if the entire scenery was covered with a blanket of silence which refused to yield any noise as she nearly screamed, not caring who heard. In fact, she was unconsciously trying to attract attention to herself, preferably those from other humans. But that did not happen since everyone she passed by was clearly dead.

"Why can't they just leave this goddamn realm alone?", she asked herself, still only looking ahead, "Isn't life bad enough as it is?".

The walk towards her base was surprisingly uneventful. With pistol held at the ready with both hands ahead of her face, Sonya proceeded past the now-unguarded front gates. She carefully walked towards the section which would've been the cluster of main buildings, but which was now just a large rubble of uneven walls with most of the roofs missing. Columns of smoke emerged from various spots, making it harder for her to comb the setting as she slowly searched for human soldiers.

Her eyes blinked fast as she saw movement out of the corner of her left eye. She gripped the handle of the Glock even tighter while she was nearing the end of a crumbled wall from her right at the moment. She twisted to the left, pointing the weapon in that direction, as she tried to register the image in her mind. It was definitely not a Centaur, and probably not a Shokanite, though she wasn't sure of the latter. Sonya's best guess was that she had spotted either a human survivor or a mutant. Her hopes quickly vanished when she observed the grinning mouth of a mutant staring back at her above the muzzle of the handgun. Desiring to wipe the grin off his face, she tried to squeeze the trigger.

The lieutenant was not able to open fire because a blade shot forth from behind the crumbled wall. The knife impaled her right forearm and stopped after it had been inserted in her left. The sudden pain, followed by an explosion of blood from her forearms, forced an unwanted scream out of her mouth as she saw the Glock slipping out of her fingers and hitting the ground. The razor-sharp weapon was then withdrawn as hastily as it was sent into her flesh. Sonya tried to step backwards and tripped over an unseen obstruction on the ground. Falling on her back, she looked up to see a second mutant as that one emerged from behind the wall. The invader with the bloody right blade wore a sadistic grin, expecting to have fun as he finished his task. Gasping for air to calm herself down, she instinctively wrapped her left hand over the hole in her right forearm, though she was sure such a reaction would not significantly slow down the loss of blood.

Sonya staggered up to her feet, her face burning with anger as she returned his stare. She looked forward to assaulting the mutant with the same kind of determination she had shown against the female Shokanite, which is to say, with only her adversary's demise in mind. Before she was even able to think of what kind of a blow to deliver, though, her eyes caught more movement behind her current enemy. A second mutant showed himself from directly behind the one who had stabbed her, increasing the number of opponents to three as the original invader she had seen approached also. The kombatant withdrew her left hand from the injured forearm, deciding to let the blood flow freely for a short amount of time as she switched into her fighting stance. One mutant was enough of a challenge to deal with, but she didn't know if she could battle against three at once.

Before she found out if she was good enough, though, she heard a soft laughter from behind her. Sonya partly turned her face around while still trying to pay attention to the adversaries who lay ahead only to see half a dozen more mutants standing behind her. She gave a short gasp before swearing under her breath. She looked towards the ground where the pistol had fallen about eight feet away. The human reasoned that at least two of the mutants at the scene would be able to intercept her before she reached the weapon if she had tried to lunge for it. Extending her sound left arm towards the Glock while having two mutants charging upon her was a sure way to get eviscerated on the very spot where she stood. Of course, not reaching for the weapon and trying to challenge nine healthy mutants while her right arm was temporarily useless was a guaranteed death sentence also. She decided to refrain from dashing for the weapon on the ground. At least that way, she was positive she would die fighting and, hopefully, even kill some mutants before she ended up being cut to pieces.

At the decisive moment when all nine mutants were about to attack and Sonya was about to find out just how much endurance she actually possessed, everyone heard a foreign voice. All ten combatants turned their head in surprise towards the source before they saw another human who calmly approached them from twenty steps away. Sonya had no trouble recognizing him as private Ellison, but he was obviously a stranger to the mutants. The invaders turned their blades towards him, ready to attack the new native as well, but Ellison did not even appear worried. As he came closer, Sonya saw that he wore an electric razor with several wires attached to it which was tied around his neck with a piece of string. She wondered what was going on when Ellison addressed the nine invaders, looking as confident as ever.

"Leave, now!", the foot soldier ordered as he exchanged glances with the members of Kahn's army.

The mutants appeared confused, as they had never experienced a time when a smaller human, whom they also outnumbered, saw fit to tell them what to do. Despite their initial confusion, most of the invaders soon raised their blades in an aggressive manner, willing to attack the two natives again.

"This device is connected to my heartbeat!", Ellison spoke up as he gripped the electric razor around his neck, this time with more annoyance in his voice, "If my heartbeat should stop for any reason, like when I'm dead, it will automatically set off an explosion which will turn anything within a half mile radius to ash, including everyone here".

The mutants hesitated for the first time, eyeing both natives cautiously and with a degree of fear now.

"I ask you", Ellison addressed them again, "Are you ready to die? Because that's what will happen if you kill me. And if you try to kill her, I will kill you and you won't be able to strike back because doing so will mean your own deaths".

Sonya reasoned that the invaders must have told themselves that they weren't so loyal to Kahn that they were willing to partake in a suicide mission for him. All nine mutants turned and bolted away from her and Ellison, wanting to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the apparently suicidal human. She saw the footsoldier sigh loudly in relief as he saw them leaving.

"Oh, God!", Ellison exclaimed in relief once the two of them were alone, "I can't believe that worked!".

He tore the useless electric razor off his neck and tossed it on the ground as he approached her. He reached into his torn and bloodied army uniform and withdrew a piece of cloth that was about three inches thick and three feet long.

"Use this for the arm, ma'am", the private offered the piece of cloth as he came near, "I gathered a few of them so this kind of an emergency could be handled".

"Thanks", Sonya took it with her left hand as she eyed the increasingly bloody right forearm.

She first tore the cloth in half from the middle, creating two pieces which were about a foot and a half long each. Then, hissing from the pain but trying not to, she tightly wrapped the first one a few inches above the hole in her forearm, just below the elbow. As she did, Ellison had wandered away, busy scavenging through the rubble which used to be their base. Before she could ask what he was looking for, he returned to where she stood with a half-full bottle of alcohol from a Red Cross packet. The foot soldier opened the cap and handed her the bottle without a word since she obviously knew what had to come next. Pressing her teeth together, Sonya poured some of the alcohol directly on top of the right wound. She gasped and exhaled several times from the pain before she was able to hold the bottle in her right hand to repeat the procedure on the less serious, left wound. The only thing that remained after that was to wrap the second piece of cloth on top of the wound itself, and hope that it was enough to stop the bleeding.

"I owe you one", she whispered as she returned the cap back on the alcohol bottle.

Ellison didn't respond and only returned her glance, so Sonya kept her eyes locked on his for several uneasy seconds until he was finally compelled to speak.

"My pleasure, ma'am", he formally announced.

"Are you OK?", she asked as she came closer.

"Yes ma'am", was his answer.

"And cut the 'ma'am'", she advised, "Call me Sonya".

"Understood", Ellison replied, still standing in a rigid position, as he had been trained to do when addressing a superior officer.

"And thanks, you saved my sorry life for sure", she gave the hint of a smile as she momentarily wrapped her left arm around his shoulder before quickly withdrawing it.

"The craziness is back, isn't it, Sonya?", he asked as he turned his attention away from the base.

"I'm afraid so", she responded, staring in the same direction as him towards the destroyed city which surrounded them.

The lieutenant returned her glance towards the footsoldier who had rescued her. Focusing on his face, she thought she saw dried tear marks under his eyes. She recognized the traces tears usually leave after one tries to dry them in a hurried fashion, as she had done many times before. There was obviously a lot of killing in the last several hours, even though she had been unconscious during most of it, so it was understandable if the footsoldier had gotten emotional. But Sonya ended up asking herself why he would try to cover up the fact that he'd been crying. Ellison noticed her stare and his eyes soon asked her the reason for her interest, so she decided to take a chance.

"You were crying?", she flatly asked him.

"No", he answered with force, indicating to her that he was lying.

"It's OK if you were", she locked eyes with him, sounding surprisingly gentle all of a sudden.

Ellison tried to return her look, but the result was that his eyes blinked before he lost the strength he had been using to keep himself in check. The footsoldier's eyes watered again as he pushed his face aside, as if ashamed of himself.

"Hey, hey, it's OK. It's really OK", she wrapped her right arm around him, understanding his position since there were times she did not want others to know how she felt.

"No, it's not!", he shook his head as he dried his eyes, "I don't deserve to be in this uniform!".

"Why would you say something like that? Sure you do", she still tried to comfort, though she was beginning to realize why he was so distraught.

"I...", Ellison froze.

"What?", she encouraged him to continue.

"Didn't you ask yourself how I was still here when you arrived?", he asked without looking at her as his voice shook, "How I survived those creeps?".

"Not really", she lied.

"I survived 'cause I covered myself with one of the guys who was already dead", his voice broke apart completely and he sobbed again, "They got us by surprise! Nobody was ready for 'em!".

"Listen to me", she was unsure if he heard him, so she spoke up, "Listen to me!".

The footsoldier calmed down slightly, still refusing to look her in the eye.

"It's OK", she whispered into his ear still without taking his arm off his shoulder, "I understand. You didn't do anything wrong. I mean, hell, if you hadn't done that, then you wouldn't have been here to save my life, right?".

He didn't answer, only stared ahead with a numb look on his face.

"Right?", she repeated.

"Yeah, I guess so", he nodded.

"OK, so as long as we're here, what are our plans?", she asked next as she withdrew her arm.

"I dunno", Ellison went on, clearly feeling better after telling her his secret, "I wanted to go to my place, to see if my wife is still alive".

"Sounds like as good of a plan as any", Sonya smiled, "Let's go then".

She reached down towards the ground and gripped the handle of the Glock with her left hand, doing her best to ignore the pain in both forearms.

"Can we drop by one place before, though?", she inquired as if she was asking for his permission.

"Sure", he sighed, still trying to feel something other than the numbing feeling he sensed.

"Great, I'll lead the way", she nodded, intending to pay Chris a visit since she wondered if the orphan from Motaro's invasion had survived also.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Liu, Kitana and Johnny had barely gotten used to the sunlight, but, other than creating a portal to visit Outworld, they didn't know of what decisive course action to follow for the future. The monk was weighing several options, but he seemed to be getting more depressed with time because he kept looking at the corpses which filled the streets. He was glad princess Kitana had decided to come by to give them a helping hand, but having an extra gladiator on their side didn't mean much when they didn't know what to do once the portal was operational. He was still in deep thought, as he was sure the actor and the princess were also, when a bright flash became visible in front of them. The flash expanded, and it was bright enough to even outshine the sun, but it soon faded into a barely glowing luster. Anticipating to see lord Rayden, as they had done before, the kombatants approached it nonchalantly, expecting to hear the voice of the deity who had been their guide several times in the past.

All three fighters were startled and Johnny and Kitana staggered backwards a small number of steps as they ended up facing Shao Kahn himself. The seven-foot tall emperor's facial expression was hidden behind the metal mask, as always, but one could assume that he was enjoying the momentary terror he created. His muscular frame easily surpassed the ones from the three humans as he looked down to stare at his smaller foes.

"IF YOU ARE SMART, YOU WILL SURRENDER WHILE I AM IN A GENEROUS MOOD", Kahn's voice thundered, "I MAY LET YOU AND THE REST OF YOUR PUNY RACE OFF WITH A QUICK DEATH IF YOU DO. IF YOU RESIST, YOU ONLY ADD UNNECESSARY PAIN AND SUFFERING TO A RACE WHO IS DOOMED TO LOSE THIS BATTLE".

"We kicked your ass once, nothing says we won't do it again", Johnny replied first.

Kahn arched his upper body towards the sky and roared at the idea, his laughter echoing for blocks.

"HAVE IT YOUR WAY, HUMAN", he shot back when he was finished giggling, "I HAVE TRIED. WHATEVER ANGUISH FOLLOWS YOUR RACE FROM NOW ON IS ON YOUR HANDS".

"We'll do to you what we did to Motaro, don't worry about us", the actor responded for the trio again.

"That's right", Kitana sternly added.

"AND YOU!", the emperor turned his attention to her, "YOU HAD MUCH MORE THAN THIS TO LIVE FOR! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU GAVE UP BY SIDING WITH THESE PESTS".

The princess shrugged, nonverbally telling him she wasn't interested in his gifts to his servants as he enjoyed the spoils of war.

"YOU MAY NOT BE SO BRAVE ONCE YOU CONCEIVE THE BRUNT OF THE FORCE THAT OPPOSES YOU, INSECTS", the leader of the invaders continued, "MY ARMY CONSISTS OF THREE BILLION WARRIORS, EACH OF WHOM IS FAR SUPERIOR TO ALL THREE OF YOU. MOTARO'S INVASION WILL SEEM TO BE, HOW YOU SAY, A PIECE OF CAKE, WHEN COMPARED TO WHAT YOU FACE NOW. THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP MY ARMY FROM DEVASTATING EVERY LAST BIT OF HUMAN RESISTANCE IS TO DEFEAT ITS LEADERS IN A RIGHTEOUS COMBAT, AND THAT, I KNOW, IS IMPOSSIBLE".

"I distinctly remember the sorcerer you harbor having such an overconfidence in the tenth tournament", Liu spoke up, still unimpressed by the emperor's appearance or message.

"Yeah", Johnny added, "And we all know what that got him. Besides, we kicked Motaro's ass once, we can do it again. And whoever is the head of these Shokanites now can't be worse than Goro, who, if I remember, bought the farm in the tenth tournament also".

"FOOL!", Kahn barked, "YOU DID NOT DEFEAT GORO, YOU MERELY GOT LUCKY BY PROPELLING HIM OFF A CLIFF. AS FOR MOTARO, I THINK THE CENTAUR HAS LEARNED HIS LESSON. I DOUBT HE WILL BE DULL-WITTED ENOUGH TO ACCEPT ANOTHER CHALLENGE WHILE EXHAUSTED".

With those words, emperor Kahn laughed out loud again before he vanished. The three fighters exchanged glances, trying not to look worried in fear of scaring the other two even though all three humans felt the same uneasy feeling. But while the kombatants experienced agitation, the emperor was deeply disappointed because he had hoped he could break their spirit by merely flaunting the size of his army. He had failed at his task.

Back in the Earth realm, Kitana was finally able to concentrate enough energy ahead of her to create a portal powerful enough to transport three individuals back to her home realm. All three kombatants stared into the bright gateway, knowing that once they stepped into it, they would find themselves in an area called the Vexed Land.

"Let's do it", Johnny said out loud, wishing he felt more confident.

The three fighters walked inside the portal and vanished.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sub-zero was still fatigued when he saw the sun rise. It came as no surprise to him since the amount of talent he had used in the previous few hours was more than he had ever brought forth at once, even when compared to his training with the Lin Kuei. He usually considered himself to be more comfortable at night, but he had to admit that it was a relief to know that one could now see his or her adversaries clearly. He and the other people around him no longer had to worry about a sneaky mutant or a silent Centaur verging upon them in the darkness. The ninja also realized that he hated the idea of seeing a Shokanite leaping through the air with the hopes of crushing him under a body which weighed several hundreds of pounds. The night sky contained an enveloping darkness that had appeared to camouflage the four-armed invaders as they were in the air. Realizing they had to act, since the fact that he could see enemies more easily meant that his enemies could now see him, the Lin Kuei renegade turned to the officers whose lives he had saved.

Pensky appeared tired as he was seated with his back against a wall. Or perhaps the tense expression in his eyes was one of fear, the ninja could not be sure. Detective Olsen was keeping a watch as he stared out of the ravished room they were in. Looking over their surroundings, he knew that, since they were unarmed, they would be helpless if a group of invaders had found them. The retreat from the front of the police station had forced him and the three other officers to run without any weapons in their possessions, so they preferred to avoid a confrontation at all cost. Before Sub-zero could utter his first sentence to the vigilant detective, Olsen quickly whispered to the four other men he was seeking shelter with.

"I hear something!", the detective warned, sending everyone into a state of near-panic.

The ninja prepared to push his already worn abilities to the limit again as all other officers sprang to their feet, none of the men admitting that they were scared. Willing to fight until the end without giving their enemies the satisfaction of hearing them cower in fear, the five humans felt ready.

They suddenly relaxed when the individual who appeared at the door was a mortal born in the Earth realm as well. The man was dressed in jungle camouflage as he held an M-16 rifle at the ready in front of his face. He promptly lowered the muzzle of the weapon towards the floor as he saw the officers. The four officers and the ninja breathed a sigh of relief at the welcome sight.

"Major!", the soldier spoke up, addressing someone who was behind him and thus invisible to the men in the room, "We got more".

At his words, another, bigger soldier appeared at the entrance, gripping a rifle of his own.

"Hi", major Briggs greeted the five survivors, "My name's Jackson Briggs, US Army Special Forces. Please follow me".

"Where we going?", one of the other officers asked, though preferring to tag along with the military than staying unarmed by himself.

"We're scouring the city, at least trying to provide some source of security around here", Jax brought them all up to date, "You'll be safer with us than alone".

Not needing to hear any more, the five survivors followed Jax and the soldier outside to a waiting patrol of three tanks and five military trucks. Each green-colored vehicle was surrounded by over a dozen military personnel and civilians, obviously more survivors of Kahn's onslaught.

"Now, we're not here on anybody's order for an official duty", the major let them know, "We're only doing this on our own, so please, let's have some agreement for everyone's sake. I've been put in charge as the highest-ranking officer here".

Olsen nodded his head, indicating he understood as Jax smiled.

"Sort of like a democratic vote", the major went on, "I actually won the election by a landslide since I got six votes and my nonexistent rival got none".

"Glad to be hear", Sub-zero heard Pensky talking for the first time after the officer had thanked him for saving them the previous night.

"Jake!", Jax turned his attention to a soldier who wore pants painted in the colors of the desert and a red T-shirt, "Get whoever of them's interested a piece".

The major turned back to the survivors.

"Jake will show you how to fire an M-16 if you officers have never handled one before", he assured.

All four officers gladly accepted the rifles, though the ninja did not. Sub-zero believed he would be a more lethal threat with his ice talent once he was fully rested, in contrast with using a firearm he had never even touched before. Jax could not agree with him, perhaps because the major had never seen the extent of the ninja's abilities, but ultimately decided to honor his wishes.

They had been driving down the street at a slow pace for less than ten minutes when they saw the need for assistance. Half a block away, a Shokanite was busy sending his fist into a man's face repeatedly. The human was already unconscious, possibly even dead, but the invader would not cease the punishing blows on his head. Both of the Shokanite's left fists were already smeared with the man's blood when he was spotted by the platoon. Although Sub-zero's initial reaction was to try to use his talent against the invader, he found that one of the soldiers under Jax's command was faster. Though over fifty yards away from the beating, the soldier raised his M-16 rifle and fired once without uttering a word. A round exploded into the back of the head of the four-armed aggressor, dropping the invader dead on the ground. The Shokanite fell on top of the man as soldiers jumped out of the vehicles and rushed over to the scene. They hoped to be able to pull the human out from under the Shokanite since he could've been crushed under the weight. They were, of course, assuming he wasn't dead already.

The ninja soon caught up with the three who first arrived on the scene and tried to pull the human out from under the giant invader's corpse. Only one of the man's arms was visible and the soldiers immediately dropped their rifle and each gripped a section of his forearm in an effort to drag him out. When that method did not produce any results, other than creating exhausted gasps from the three soldiers, the greater number of troops who dashed to the scene decided to try another approach. They began to lift the Shokanite's upper body slightly off the ground so the man under him could easily be freed. Being by far the strongest one among his men, major Briggs dropped his rifle and gripped a side of the invader's body as others joined him. Groaning, they succeeded in lifting the large corpse over two feet off the ground as another soldier quickly pulled the man under it to safety. The Shokanite was then allowed to crash back down on the concrete as the soldier who had pulled the man out eagerly felt for the civilian's pulse. Everyone on the scene was disappointed when he stared at Jax and shook his head, indicating that the man was already dead.

"Allright, boys, it was a nice effort", Jax spoke up as he began to reach for his weapon, which was resting on the ground, "Get back to the tanks".

As the major gripped his M-16 rifle, Sub-zero's eyes enlarged. The ninja caught sight of another giant Shokanite as that one was already in the air, about to land on an unsuspecting soldier. He wanted to freeze the invader so he could give the soldier a chance to get out of the way, but knowing such a feat was impossible, he heard himself screaming out a warning. The four-armed giant landed and crushed the human at the exact time that the ninja yelled out in a late attempt to warn the soldiers. Screams emanated from the soldier's comrades as four of them instinctively raised their rifle and fired into the invader. Several rounds struck the Shokanite in the torso and knocked him backwards as he screamed in pain. He landed on his back, unable to move and bleeding to death at a quick rate.

Before that invader even hit the ground, though, the humans in the street were shocked to see dozens more of Shokanites and Centaurs as the members of Kahn's army seemed to appear out of nowhere. Many charged out of the surrounding buildings which had no activity around them only moments ago. Some Shokanites literally jumped over structures, arriving at the scene from neighboring streets and alleyways. None of the ambushed humans knew or cared at that moment, but both Centaurs and Shokanites were fairly telepathic with members of their race. They could easily hold dialogue between each other when at a close range without speaking verbally and also send a distress signal over a larger distance when hurt. Such was the method that the first Shokanite who was shot had used to summon for help just before he died.

War cries were heard from both the invaders and the Earth natives as Jax ordered his troops to stand in place and fight. The major knew that any soldier who tried to run for the safety of a tank would've been open for an attack from either a Centaur or a Shokanite. If they stood their ground, on the other hand, the soldiers had a chance, however slight, of seeing and then defeating the enemy. Sub-zero heard the loud chorus of gunfire sounding almost at once as everyone in the platoon except for him opened fire. The ninja saw the four officers he had rescued, about a score of civilians and a larger number of soldiers aiming against and successfully hitting Centaurs in the head or Shokanites in the upper body. The four-armed monsters were favorably killed by the bullets while their four-legged counterparts were only stunned by even direct hits to the face.

Turning, the ninja spotted a Centaur who had his lowered horns aimed towards the back of a young soldier as the human did not see the invader galloping towards him from behind. Sub-zero quickly placed his wrists together and sent forth a shower of ice, freezing the aggressive Centaur in his tracks. The young soldier turned around and finally realized that he had been only feet away from being gored by the invader's horns. Not caring how the ninja froze the Centaur, the soldier swiftly aimed his rifle towards his potential executioner's head. One pull of the trigger exploded the frozen Centaur's head in a countless number of ice particles as the decapitated statue fell over on its side.

Seeing detective Olsen to his left and major Briggs to his right as both men now struggled physically against a Shokanite who had reached past the gunfire, the ninja reacted accordingly. He spread his extended arms horizontally away from his upper body at a ninety degree angle from each other, knowing that a frozen burst from one hand could not be as powerful as a burst from both hands. A gust of ice flowed out of each palm, each gust striking one leg on either Shokanite. The ninja jumped aside as he then witnessed a charging Centaur who headed straight for him. The last thing he remembered seeing from Jax's direction was the major taking advantage of his help by executing a leg sweep. The surprised Shokanite who was the major's adversary had gasped as his right leg suddenly turned to ice. He was unable to move as he saw Jax hitting the ground and the major's ankle swung towards his own. The Shokanite screamed as the human's sweep shattered his frozen leg and forced him to crash down on his side as pints of blood emerged from his right hip.

Amid the shouts of victors and losers, as well as the constant sounds of gunfire, the ninja felt a solid blow against his jaw as the Centaur who had charged towards him swung a fist for his head. Sub-zero's upper body snapped to one side as he crashed on the ground. Looking up, he saw the invader rising up on the hind legs and readying to crush him beneath the front legs. With the Centaur still on his hind legs, the ninja gasped as he hastily placed his wrists together and sent forth a blast of ice which was pointed upwards. The ice struck the lower, horse-like section of the invader from underneath him and froze him instantly. Coming back down on his front legs, the Centaur was only a statue. Sub-zero quickly rolled aside as the frozen invader crashed on the ground, smashing to pieces and showering the ninja with fragments of ice.

Standing back up, the former Lin Kuei member heard less screams as he concentrated on the first individual he saw. He felt dread as he caught sight of the giant Shokanite with the shoulder pads whom he had seen several hours earlier. Kintaro easily lifted an unarmed civilian with his right hand before throwing the human against the concrete ground, breaking the native's neck. Cherishing his latest kill, the leader of the Shokanites twisted around as he searched for more victims. He was disappointed since every one of his fellow Shokanites and Centaurs were lying on the ground either dead or dying, mostly from gunshot wounds. Approximately two out of three humans were also deceased. The ninja spotted Pensky on the ground as the officer was busy pressing his right hand on a deep and bloody stomach wound. In the meantime, major Briggs staggered to his feet next to the body of an injured Shokanite and picked up the nearest rifle. Even though the weapon was empty, Jax eagerly swung it downward, crashing the heavier end of the rifle against the invader's head, knocking him unconscious.

Seeing that he was the last member of Kahn's army on his feet while over a dozen injured humans were still healthy enough to hurt him, Kintaro decided to retreat. Before he did so, however, he reached for and gripped the neck of a soldier who was within his grasp. Lifting the human two feet off the ground, the Shokanite reasoned that he could've executed the native and leapt away safely before any retaliatory measures were taken against him. His reasoning proved to be false because Sub-zero reacted from thirty yards away. The ninja sent frozen rain high into the air towards both the invader and his human captive. Seeing the attack, Kintaro groaned with disappointment as he was forced to release the human without killing him. The soldier dropped to the ground and the Shokanite rushed aside. The frozen blast missed both individuals since it flew several feet over the human's head and was too far to the side to hit Kintaro. Seeing his lost opportunity to take another human life, the Shokanite exploded in a rage as he eyed the ice ninja.

"YOU AGAIN!", Kintaro angrily pointed at him.

Before Sub-zero could send a second cold blast against the invader, the Shokanite jumped up and landed several steps ahead of the ninja. Once safely on his feet, Kintaro charged forward as he intended to collide into the human in the blue outfit who had alluded him earlier. Sub-zero tried to dodge to his left as he saw the giant invader getting closer. He wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough because Kintaro's upper right fist met his head as the Shokanite executed an uppercut. The ninja felt an explosion in his mind as he flew ten feet upward into the air before painfully landing on his back. He saw the bright morning sky as he opened his eyes an instant prior to observing Kintaro's face as it then blocked his view of the sun and clouds. Unsure whether he could survive a second blow from the invader, Sub-zero desperately tried to stand, only to be pulled up by his uniform first. The Shokanite gripped his collar with a lower right hand as the upper right fist was ready to deliver a death blow. As the giant pulled that fist back, ready to swing it against the human's head, he felt an annoying pinch at the back of his head. He turned his face around while still retaining his grip on the ninja to see that Pensky had stood up and had thrown an empty rifle at him from behind. The M-16 lay on the ground next to Kintaro's feet as the weapon seemed to be more damaged than the Shokanite's head was.

Groaning furiously, the Shokanite ignored the provoking officer and returned his glance back towards the ninja. Sub-zero raised both forearms on either side of his head as he saw the swift and powerful upper right fist sailing through the air towards his face. The impact felt like an even louder explosion in his mind as Kintaro let him go and he fell on the ground unable to put up a fight.

"ON YOUR FEET, LITTLE PEST!", Kintaro barked as some of the human survivors around him finally found the strength to stand, though they were far enough away that the Shokanite could've killed the ice ninja before any of them could help.

"I TOLD YOU YOUR SUFFERING WOULD BE LINGERED IF YOU REFUSED TO COOPERATE", the Shokanite taunted, "NOW IT IS TOO LATE".

Thinking he could crush the human with a third blow now instead of the first two he had thought he only needed, Kintaro raised his right leg and momentarily stood on his left foot. Sub-zero's eyes widened as he then saw the bottom of the Shokanite's right foot coming down on his face. Lying horizontally on the ground, the ninja gasped and rolled on his side far enough so the invader's foot crashed down on the ground just next to him. The impact was so close to him, in fact, that the human found he was unable to stand because one of the sleeves of his outfit was stuck under Kintaro's foot, thus making it impossible for him to break free. The ninja pulled hard as he witnessed the giant raising his left foot into the air, sure he would not miss the second time since his target was immobile.

With a sharp moan, the ninja tore free as several blue-colored inches from his sleeve remained under Kintaro's weight. He quickly staggered up to his feet as the Shokanite's left foot met the ground in a disappointing crash in its turn. Kintaro swung his two left fists, intending to hit the human's face. The ninja dropped and rolled on the ground, causing both fists to meet air. Seeing the Shokanite rushing towards him from only feet away, Sub-zero decided not to use valuable time by locking his wrists together and aiming his arms against the aggressor. He was already weak and reasoned that a direct hit from such a short distance might not freeze his opponent instantly, thus giving Kintaro a chance to crush him. Instead, the human casually lifted his arms vertically into the air and shot a blast of ice into the sky. The Shokanite grinned since he thought the native had panicked and missed his intended target. He did not know that the frozen particles shot up for about a hundred feet and then dropped back down towards the ground, their momentum increasing as they were pulled by gravity. As he was about to stomp on the smaller native, the speeding gust of ice struck him from above, freezing him on the spot. Kintaro heard himself swearing as he felt his body turn to a statue of ice and then experienced oblivion.

Swaying to his feet, the ninja stood up straight as he looked up into the glacial eyes of the immobile four-armed monster from only two feet away. Bending his right arm at the elbow, Sub-zero withdrew that arm as he groaned softly. A sudden scream followed as the human sent his right fist into the chest of the frozen Shokanite. A small eruption followed the impact as several pounds of ice were shattered from Kintaro's upper body and fell on the ground. With the gaping hole in the invader's massive chest, Sub-zero twisted to his right and sent his left foot towards the Shokanite. The bottom of his foot crashed into the damaged chest and pushed Kintaro's icy statue backwards. The invader's body weight was slowly driven back with his feet used as the center of gravity until he finally tipped over and collapsed on his back, shattering into pieces.

The ninja promptly walked away from Kintaro's frozen carcass, surveying the area around him. Major Briggs was already on his feet as he saw the ice warrior defeating the giant Shokanite. He was no longer worried about the dead invader because he turned his attention to a young soldier who was lying on his back in a pool of blood after having been struck by a Centaur's horns. The same horseman's body rested dead next to the human, having suffered numerous gunshot wounds to the head. Another private was busy holding the injured soldier's wrist as he knelt next to him. Sub-zero and Jax saw the young enlistee shaking uncontrollably from cold as he opened his mouth with difficulty.

"God... God...", the young soldier gasped as he looked up at his comrade and Jax, "I don't wanna die... Don't let me...".

Those were his last words before his eyes closed and he lay still. The soldier who held his wrist lifted it and brought it to rest over his eyes as he himself then stood up. Major Briggs sighed heavily as he reviewed the small number of humans who had emerged without any serious injuries. He had to lead the survivors and the wounded humans out while ignoring his bloody shoulder, stomach and left thigh.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Emperor Shao Kahn was seated on his throne as he watched and enjoyed the scene on the surface of the magic lake in his room. Although hidden behind the metal mask, his face appeared at be grinning, at least as far as his servants could see. He was taking pleasure from knowing that his forces were slowly but surely defeating the human resistance in the Earth realm. Soon, all the members of Earth's warrior class would be dead and that realm's resources and souls would be his to feast on. One of his human servants turned his face away from watching the emperor, indicating someone had just entered the room. Not caring who the visitor was, the emperor's attention remained fixed on the lake, still intent on watching as much of the slaughter as possible. He reasoned that the many guards who surrounded the palace and his personal room would never have allowed dangerous intruder to simply walk in. He was right because the next sound he heard was the slow gallop of general Motaro as the Centaur approached him from the right. The emperor finally pulled his face away from the lake, thus acknowledging the horseman's presence. Motaro humbly kneeled in front of him as he looked up into the cold, metal mask Kahn wore.

"Yes?", Kahn flatly asked.

"I have a request of you, my emperor", Motaro spoke, never breaking eye contact with his superior.

"You left the battle field for a request?", the slightest hint of annoyance appeared in Kahn's voice as he replied.

"Emperor, it concerns a section of your army", the Centaur told him.

"Go on", the emperor then seemed more interested.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonya and Ellison were each armed with an M-16 rifle as they carefully neared the place of residence that the lieutenant had led the private to. Testing the front door, Sonya found it to be locked. For all she knew, a member of Kahn's army could've been inside beating her confidant to death. Not wishing to open fire in fear of attracting attention to themselves, she decided to find a way inside by using conventional methods. Twisting to the side, she sent her right foot next to the doorknob, causing the lock in the door to break open easily. Hastily pointing the muzzle of her rifle inside, she stepped through the doorway as Ellison followed. The room was dark, as none of the lights were turned on and the two available windows were hidden behind a closed curtain. Combing the furniture with her eyes, she decided to take a chance.

"Chris!", Sonya whispered out loud, "Chris, are you here?".

She simply had to know if the youth was still alive. Sonya had planned to help him after Motaro's invasion was repelled, especially since he was responsible for saving her life during the fighting. Though knowing she could never replace his dead parents, she had told him she'd be there if the need arose. But once she started missing Scott when things began going back to normal, she found that she needed more help than the orphan did in dealing with her feelings. Letting Chris down was one of the many failure Sonya could subjectively remember after she killed Motaro.

There was no response for a few seconds, so she was about to speak up again when the door to an adjacent bedroom opened. Both she and Ellison aimed their weapon in the direction of the movement before they saw a human greeting them in a nervous fashion. Sonya gave the hint of a smile when Chris approached her while trying to keep his figure low so it wouldn't be seen from outside through the windows. He looked scared, as was understandable, though glad to see other humans.

"Make yourself at home", Chris whispered back as he saw the broken door.

"Thanks", she replied, nodding her head, "Just wanted to come by and check on you".

"So what happens now?", Ellison interrupted from behind them, "Do you want to come with us?".

"Yeah, yeah", the youngster answered by nodding his head quickly, "It's better than staying here. I've been curled up in there and not moving since last night. It's death on the muscles. It's only a matter of time before one of those ugly things breaks in here, anyway".

"Great, then", Sonya swiftly withdrew her Glock with her left hand and handed it to him, "I think you know how to use this, considering that 'fun' time we had a few weeks ago in the bar".

Both she and Chris grinned at her recollection, though Ellison had no idea what she was talking about. As the third person slowly gripped the handle of the weapon and truly felt it for the first time, the lieutenant headed back outside, knowing the trio was needed.

Ellison was the first one out the door. As the other two were only feet behind him, he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his left eye. He partly turned his face in that direction before he spotted a mutant charging towards him. The soldier had no time to scream. Instead, he twisted his M-16 to the left as he charged forward, trying to get out of the way of the rampaging invader. Though propelled ahead, the mutant still found him before he was able to reach safety. The left blade impaled the Special Forces member through the outer edge of his upper back, sending forth a splash of blood as he yelled out and dropped his rifle. He fell forward on the ground under the intense pain, trying to stand back up to grip his rifle at the same time. Sonya was next in line through the doorway as she spotted the enemy. She the muzzle of the rifle, lifted the weapon and swung it towards the mutant's face as he was readying for a second, fatal stab against Ellison. The weapon smashed into the invader's jaw, easily breaking it and sending him staggering backwards. With blood dripping out of his mouth, the enraged mutant began a second charge forward, this time aiming for her. He never got his chance because he ended up staring down the barrel of Sonya's M-16 before he was within striking distance. Her rifle fired once and a bullet entered his chest, dropping him dead on the ground.

Before she was able to approach Ellison to inspect his wound, Sonya spotted four more mutants screaming at once as they dashed towards the three Earth natives. Chris was the first to answer as he aimed the handgun he gripped tightly against the nearest mutant to them. He opened fire four times, missing all shots as bullets passed by the invader without hitting him. Sonya was the second human to open fire against the new attackers. Her reaction was slower, but with a better aim. A single round from her rifle tore through the face of the same mutant, disfiguring him and killing him instantly. As the two dead invaders rested on the ground, almost next to each other, their three comrades leapt over the bodies to reach the armed natives. From only three steps away, Sonya was forced to open fire against three targets simultaneously. Her M-16 hurled bullets towards the mutants as she tried to keep her attention solely on them.

The mutant at the very right was hit in the head and chest, so he went down three steps away. Slightly turning the weapon to the left, she squeezed the trigger again, bullets finding their mark in the second mutant's torso. His dash was cut short as he dropped on his knees and then flat on his stomach in a pool of blood. The tip of the second invader's right blade touched Sonya's foot as that one laid flat on the ground, but he was already dead by that time and thus unable to use it. As she and Chris aimed for the last remaining mutant, though, that one was too close to be stopped effectively. Both her M-16 and his Glock struck him in the upper body as he rushed to meet them, but the mutant managed to swing as he felt himself being pulled to the ground. Whereas the entire scene only took an instant, Sonya saw it as if in slow motion. A ray of sunshine sparkled off the blade as she viewed it sailing horizontally through the air, aimed for Chris. He saw it also and tried to duck, but with no success. The knife came into contact with his throat and decapitated the youngster exactly where he stood. Chris' severed head rolled off his back before the rest of his body collapsed lifelessly on the ground.

Sonya wanted to scream. She then wanted to save Chris. She then wanted to tear the mutant responsible to pieces. As Ellison managed to stand on his feet, she realized she couldn't do any of the things she desired because her throat felt tight, Chris was already dead and the mutant responsible was also dead. She felt her heart sinking in her chest as she looked at Chris' beheaded corpse. She told herself that she had let him down for the last time.

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The feeling was cold, almost frightening. It was the same emotion that Sheeva had felt when she heard of Goro's death for the first time. Because Goro had been on a totally different realm when he was killed, none of the Shokanites were able to feel his death at the moment of his demise. Kintaro, on the other hand, was in the same realm as her and the other members of her race when his body shattered to pieces. She experienced a sharp pain in her stomach which indicated to her that her leader was no longer alive. She bent down, hissing and pressing three forearms into her abdomen. The extremely uncomfortable feeling soon drowned out the pain from the bullet wound and the blows that two annoying survivors had inflicted on her head. Sheeva was forced to endure the displeasure for over a minute before she was finally able to conquer the pain. Groaning, she slowly rose, once again standing vertically as she asked herself how any human could possibly kill her chief, again.

Receiving a telepathic message in her mind, Sheeva temporarily closed her eyes as the remnants of the pain were overcome. The message was from a fellow male Shokanite named Clumai and it only told her what she already knew. Still, she locked the outside world away from her mind and listened intently to the words which were spoken only in her mind.

"Kintaro has been killed", Clumai informed her.

"I know", Sheeva replied telepathically to him, "I have felt it. What happens now?".

"Report to emperor Kahn's throne room in his realm", the other Shokanite let her know, "It is up to him to pick our next leader and Kintaro's successor".

Sheeva swallowed hard, finding it more difficult to keep her eyes closed and concentrate on the telepathy.

"And then?", she added.

"Nothing", Clumai answered in a sharp tone, as if she should already know, "The battle against these humans goes on. Now report to Kahn's castle this instant".

It was all she heard. She opened her eyes and sighed at having to go back to Kahn in disgrace for losing yet another one of her race's leaders. Still though, her duty was clear. Her and her race's allegiance to emperor Kahn was to remain unquestioned no matter how many Shokanites died serving him...

Sheeva was led towards emperor Kahn's private chamber by an escort of four human servants. By far the largest of everyone in the small group, she walked as confidently as possible towards the giant closed metal door. She wondered which male Shokanite would be assigned as Kintaro's successor when they reached the door. One of the servants promptly pulled it open and held it for her as she passed through the doorway without looking at him. The other three servants also followed her inside before the original human closed the door and waited outside.

Once inside the chamber, the lady Shokanite was quick to kneel on her right knee as she spotted emperor Kahn standing in front of his enchanted lake. Kahn spotted her and turned his attention to his new visitor as he extended his left arm towards her, indicating that she could rise.

"And you are?", the emperor asked for her name.

"Sheeva, my master", she bowed her head, speaking softly, "Your loyal servant. I was asked to come here to witness the ceremony where you choose our next leader for the Shokanites".

"Yes", Kahn nodded, indicating she was in the right place for the ceremony, "I was saddened to hear of Kintaro's death. I promise that the assignment of his replacement will be a quick one so you can return to the Earth realm from where you came".

"Thank you, me emperor", Sheeva stood and bowed again.

"It is through there", Kahn casually pointed towards a second set of metal doors which led to another room, "Please wait there for the remaining members of your race to arrive".

Two eight-foot tall Centaurs approached her from behind so as to escort her to the next room, since no one except the emperor traveled anywhere in the castle without an attendant. Sheeva proceeded towards the double doors, glad that the meeting with emperor Kahn went better than she had expected. The emperor hadn't been nearly as angry as she expected him to be. Thinking she could actually relax during the ceremony before she returned to fight against the humans in Earth, she stepped forward as the double doors were held open for her by human servants. Sheeva walked into the second room followed by the two Centaurs before the doors were closed behind them.

Her jaw dropped in shock as she viewed the sight ahead. Sheeva saw over two thousand Shokanites in the gigantic chamber, most of whom were lying on the floor dead. The blood from the deceased four-armed warriors covered the room from wall to wall, and the other end of the chamber could not be seen with the naked eye since the room was too large. A handful of Shokanites in the area were still alive as they were being savagely attacked by a much larger number of Centaurs. The closest individual to her was about thirty yards to her left, so she turned her face in that direction. She recognized that it was Clumai, and the eight-foot tall male Shokanite was lying on the ground as three equally-large Centaurs kicked him incessantly. Further away from Clumai, Sheeva spotted Motaro as the leader of the Centaurs brought his hands together and summoned his talent. A red bolt of lighting appeared from the ceiling of the chamber and shot down towards the floor before striking Clumai fatally. Her fellow Shokanite ceased moving as the lighting tore through him and left his flesh burning and in smoke.

Sheeva was about to turn to the two horsemen as a phrase formed in her mind. Before she was able to utter a word, though, both Centaurs restrained her from behind, each grabbing the pair of arms from either side. She hollered as rage consumed her mind. She struggled and tried to get out of the Centaurs' grip to no avail. Two larger Centaurs working together were simply stronger than her no matter how valiantly she fought back. Temporarily immobile on that spot, Sheeva saw Motaro as he got ready to send forth a second bolt of lightning. The chief Centaur's attention was now turned towards her, indicating that the next red discharge of electricity was about to be aimed at her. She screamed louder, furiously pulling at the inescapable grip of her two restrainers as her imminent doom appeared in the form of a red spark from the ceiling.

Another Shokanite who was on the ground and being battered by four Centaurs saw her predicament from fifty yards away. The four horsemen thought he was already dead, reasoning that no one could've survived the amount of stomping they had inflicted on the four-armed fighter. Surprising them, the Shokanite stood up and leapt past his four-legged executioners as he headed towards Sheeva. He flew into the air and landed on the Centaur who was restraining her from the right, breaking his back under the impact. The horseman screamed as pain engulfed him and he released his grip on her right arms. Half-free, Sheeva pulled herself to the right and dragged the remaining Centaur, who was at her left, along. It was at that instant that Motaro's red lightning bolt struck, hitting the Centaur at her left since he now stood where she used to be. Her second restraining horseman was killed instantly as the four Centaurs whom her rescuer had alluded galloped to the scene and simultaneously attacked him again. All four carelessly turned their rage on that particular Shokanite since he had embarrassed them in front of their leader and thus momentarily forgot about her. Words appeared in Sheeva's mind telepathically as she was about to retaliate against those four attackers to help her fellow Shokanite. That same Shokanite was communicating with her through his mind as he was being beaten to death.

"Leave!", the telepathic message urged her, "You can do no more here".

Those were her rescuer's last words because one of the four Centaurs drove his lowered horns into the Shokanite's back, stabbing him with them. Her rescuer fell on the ground as he made eye contact with her and then stopped moving while lying on his stomach. Motaro was heard screaming to his soldiers as he finally realized that Sheeva was left unguarded.

"FOOLS!", the chief Centaur pointed at her, "DO NOT LET HER ESCAPE!".

Sheeva jumped up and forward in a small semicircle as several Centaurs charged towards her at once. She crashed feet-first into the metal double doors and forced them open. Leaping into the air again, she alluded emperor Kahn, his human servants and all her four-legged pursuers because none of them could jump as high as her. Sheeva was exceptionally fast and agile, even when compared to other Shokanites, and her race of warriors was easily more energetic than any other race in the realms. Thus, she had no difficulty in outrunning her pursuers until she reached the outer wall of the castle. Once there, no one was able to catch up to her as she leapt and cleared the main wall that separated the interior of the castle from the surrounding wasteland of the realm.

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"So, why is this place called the Vexed Land?", Johnny thought out loud as he and his two fellow kombatants proceeded ahead in Outworld.

"The mutants used it as their stronghold and hideout during their constant raids against the people", Kitana explained, "It has been regarded with anguish ever since the mutants have withdrawn after Qarro's defeat since many Outworlders who were captured during those raids were said to be brought here to be tortured before death".

"What a thought", the actor remarked as they used the light from the sun in the purple sky to guide themselves towards a wooded area.

"Behold the Living Forest", the princess pointed towards the trees about a hundred steps away, "I can only hope the three of us together can withstand the evil that lurks inside".

A cool breeze had overtaken the sight ahead of them as leaves rustled and the small branches touched one another. Proceeding forward, the three kombatants made sure to scan their whole surroundings as they reached the edge of the forest.

Without uttering a word to be able to hear the slightest noise which would indicate a threat, the trio had walked about two hundred yards past the edge without an incident. It was then that a sound was heard, one that did not appear to belong in a natural setting that was full of trees and rodents. They quickly turned towards the perceived source of the noise, making sure to look upwards also to reduce the chances of an animal jumping down on them from the top of a tree.

"I know something's here", the actor whispered as his back was pressed against the nearest tree.

Though scanning the area ahead of him and above with care, none of the three fighters noticed the branch which moved stealthily until it gently wrapped itself around Johnny's chest. Before any of the kombatants could react, the branch squeezed the actor tight and lifted him off the ground. Johnny heard himself screaming as he was turned in midair and forced to face the tree trunk against which his back was previously pressed. The kombatant's jaw dropped as he realized that the tree trunk was staring back at him. The wooden face angrily growled at him while one of its branches held him securely in the air. The three kombatants finally understood the reason the survivor from Outworld was ranting about live wood two centuries ago.

Countering with caution, Kitana withdrew a fan in her right hand before throwing it towards the tree responsible. The branch which restrained the actor was severed at its root from the main tree as the fan flew through it. Johnny fell down and landed on the ground on his left side as the face on the tree trunk screamed in anger and pain. As the fan sailed through the air in a circular path and returned to Kitana's waiting hand, the three kombatants heard additional roars. The dozens of trees which surrounded them suddenly turned towards the humans, each with an enraged face of its own. While in their fighting stance, Liu spotted the first tree which tried to swing a branch towards him and his comrades. The monk jumped up and wrapped his arms around the edge of the branch before the wooden limb reached its intended target. Liu then snapped his body downward as he pulled his arms towards his chest. The result was that the branch broke in half and the tree which had sent it screamed louder than the rest.

Landing on his feet, Liu felt another branch enfolding around his neck. The monk next realized the tree responsible was trying to strangle him since the branch began cutting the flow of air to his lungs. The kombatant gasped as he gripped the edge of the branch which was just next to his head. While still trying to break out of the powerful grip, Liu saw Johnny rushing towards him. The actor bent his right elbow as he reached the branch which was efficiently choking the monk. Lunging forward, Johnny sent his bent elbow crashing into the branch only inches away from Liu's upper body. The limb broke under the impact before the White Lotus member discarded the wooden remains which still clung to his throat.

Before the kombatants were able to respond further, over a dozen different branches rushed towards them at once. The wooden limbs wrapped around their arms, legs and throat as all three fighters struggled in vain to break loose. As the humans viewed the trees' enraged faces, they felt the particular branches around their throat tightening while the rest of the limbs successfully restrained the rest of their body. The trees stopped screaming, desiring to enjoy the death of the three humans who had dared to invade their kingdom and disrupt their peace. Within a few seconds, though, the anger in the faces of the trees was suddenly turned to a combination of fear and pain as they began yelling again. The tree which was holding Kitana burst into flames as its branches released their grip on her. The princess lost her balance and dropped on the ground. Not knowing the cause of the fire, and not caring at the moment, she stood up and rushed towards her fellow kombatants. Before she was able to even try to free them, though, a thick tongue of flame shot out from a beyond the dense shrubs and engulfed the tree which was trying to kill Johnny. That one's wooden face screamed also as the actor was released. Another tongue of flame quickly followed and struck the tree which was adamantly restraining Liu.

As the monk landed on his feet, the three fighters realized that only the trees which had tried to confine them were burning. While those yelled out in distress, with their burning branches swinging wildly above them, other trees seemed eager to take their place. With several new branches sailing through the air towards the humans from intact trees, a figure emerged from the surrounding shrubs. The new person dashed towards the kombatants as the humans were trying to fend off the fresh attack. Liu was the first to examine the appearance of the one who saved all their lives. Though standing on two legs and having two arms, the individual was not human. A gray, metallic and expressionless head was found where his face would've been. The rest of his body consisted of gray-colored metal as well while he pointed his right arm towards the trees. A small flame flickered at the end of his finger as he aimed the arm towards the living wood. Death in the form of flames blasted out of his hand before two more trees were engulfed in the fire. He then bent his left elbow as he lifted that arm and motioned for the humans to come his way.

Seeing that the cyborg was on their side, Liu held on to Johnny and Kitana before compelling them to follow the android. Staggering to their feet, the kombatants raced after the one who had saved their lives. The cyborg then turned around and dashed through the dense forest as he headed towards its edge. Though enraged and screaming, the surrounding trees did not try to thwart him or the three humans in fear that he'd turn his flame-thrower against them next.

"You should not have come here, mortals", the cyborg told them in a mechanical voice once all four were outside the edge of the Living Forest.

"Hey, man, are my eyes playing tricks on me?", Johnny stared at the android as he and the two other kombatants were catching their breath.

Liu and Kitana eyed the cyborg as well.

"Gray", the actor went on, "The gray warrior we were told to find".

"Please stay away", the android advised as he turned to go back into the forest, "This is only my home because it is too indelicate for anyone else to survive here".

"Wait!", Liu called after him.

The cyborg stopped without turning back to face the humans.

"We were sent to find you", the monk continued, "That's _why_ we're here".

"Why would any mortals wish to find _me_?", the android turned his metallic face towards them.

"We were told you could help against Kahn's invasion of the Earth realm", Kitana joined in.

"Kaaahnnn", the cyborg hissed.

"Yeah, the loser himself", the actor made sure he understood, "We're hoping you could come along?".

"You wish for my company?", the android turned around completely to face the mortals who seemed so eager to talk.

"Yes", Kitana told him.

"That has never occurred before", the cyborg explained his skepticism, "Mortals are always doubtful of my sincerity, at least they were the last time I saw them four decades ago. I cannot say I can blame them, though".

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Sonya and Ellison had put together all the bullets from their M-16 rifles and concentrated them in one weapon, since both were more than half-empty. Ellison gripped the remaining rifle as she held on to her Glock, both individuals trying their best to ignore the physical pain they were forced to endure from injuries. The two soldiers were quietly making their way into an alleyway, still hoping to run into others like them, when they stopped and stared. Even after everything that had happened, they were surprised at what they saw ahead.

Approximately thirty Shokanites were scattered along the length of the alley, all of them dead and in a pool of their blood, which was unfortunately beginning to be a common sight for everyone. The first strange sight which caught Sonya's attention was that they were colored blue and purple, instead of the dark brown she had come to expect from the skin color of members of that race. It didn't take her long to remember the condition of human fighters during the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament after they were killed. Shang Tsung had stolen those humans' souls, leaving their corpses stained in a blue color. So the view in front of her indicated that Shao Kahn had delivered the same fate towards those dead Shokanites. While asking herself why the emperor would want to steal the souls of his own soldiers, Sonya approached the closest body and squatted next to it. The Shokanite had been killed by a deep incision in the chest. No bullet she knew of could have done such damage, but she reasoned that a Centaur's horns might. Several different thoughts raced through her mind at once as she realized the possible implications of what she discovered.

As Sonya stood back up and saw Ellison walking closer, they both froze as they believed to be hearing what sounded like someone crying. Eager to investigate, the soldiers raised their weapon in front of them and advanced towards the source of the new noise. They only had to travel for about thirty yards on foot until the end of the alley before the sobs were loud enough to be just around the corner. Twisting around first, Sonya aimed the muzzle of the Glock in front of her face, not wanting to take any chances. She quickly realized that the weapon was aimed too high since the individual around the corner was in a squatted position. Sonya instantly groaned in anger as she saw who the individual was and lowered the handgun until it was aimed at the forehead as planned. Sheeva looked up as her upper back was partly resting against the wall behind her and tried to dry her eyes. Recognizing the human female who still had a firearm, the Shokanite reasoned that she was about to die since the native would never have let her live after what she had done.

Sonya kept the Glock fixed as its muzzle pointed at Sheeva's forehead while Ellison was close behind them both and saw what was occurring. Several tense and quiet moments passed without any of the three moving before the Shokanite finally became tired of staring up into the barrel of the firearm.

"What are you waiting for?", Sheeva snapped, ready to be executed, "Do it! That is what you want!".

Sonya did not remove the handgun away from her opponent's head as she replied.

"You're right, and I will", the lieutenant promised, "But not until I know what's going on here".

"I have been a fool", the Shokanite flatly stated as she stopped staring up into the barrel of the weapon and looked straight ahead instead, "For the last three centuries, nothing but a fool".

"He's turned on the Shokanites, hasn't he?", Sonya asked, "Shao Kahn, I mean".

"How did you know?" Sheeva asked, lifting her head to make eye contact with the human female this time.

"I recognized his handy-work".

"Yes, I suspect as soon as he no longer found us to be of any more use to his cause", Sheeva returned her glance straight ahead, "It is a fitting end for me. End this now".

Sonya momentarily turned her face back to Ellison.

"And I thought companies that laid people off were being cruel", she told her fellow soldier, "This is even better. No retirement plan, no pension".

She chuckled as Ellison appeared uncomfortable with her words. Even after all that happened, he still did not feel like laughing at the expense of thirty dead individuals, whether human or not.

"Well, I'm sorry", Sonya recognized the surprised look on his face, "But whenever I think of these Shokanite types, the only image that comes to mind is a bully who hates us. Maybe that's not fair, but it's just how I feel. No, on second thought, that _is_ fair. Do you have any idea how many nightmares I had about her goddamn brethren after being lured into Tsung's tournament?".

Sheeva didn't seem to be paying attention to her conversation with Ellison before Sonya turned her attention back to the Shokanite. Sonya aimed the muzzle of the Glock towards the invader's forehead again, still debating in her mind whether or not she should execute her.

"Come on!", Sheeva seemed annoyed at the wait as new tears trickled down her eyes and she looked up for the third time, "We're all the same kind of creatures anyway".

"Really? How do you figure that?", Sonya asked with a bit of sarcasm.

"Always greedy, always looking out for our own best interest", the Shokanite replied, "Only helping those who might eventually help us in the future and always happy to fight an opponent when he or she is overmatched against us. We were just born in different realms, that is all".

"Maybe so", the lieutenant went on, "But I still don't see how that's gonna effect all the human souls Kahn has in his possession right now from all the people from this realm who have already died".

"I am sorry about them", the Shokanite said as she stared ahead, still waiting for the bullet that would put her out of her misery.

"YOU'RE SORRY!", Sonya barked back, "Do you know how many of them lost their lives already? Is that what I'm supposed to tell all of their families when this mess is over? If this mess is ever over?".

Sonya bent her elbow so the handgun was pointed towards the sky. Before Sheeva knew that the human wasn't about to put her to death, the kombatant twisted to her own left, delivering a relatively low kick with her right leg. Her right ankle crashed into the Shokanite's jaw while Sheeva was still squatted on the ground and knocked the invader over on her side.

"That was for everybody you helped kill", the human spoke as Sheeva rose on her hands and knees, "Now, if you're done feeling sorry for yourself, I'd like to point out that we're getting our asses kicked here. The only way you can make up for all the humans you wasted would be to help us kill Kahn so all their souls, and those of your friends, will be freed".

As the Shokanite slowly rose to her feet, easily standing a foot taller than Sonya or Ellison, Sonya realized that she was in no position to give the invader a lecture about self pity. The lieutenant knew she was feeling sorry for herself every time she drank at the local bar and became intoxicated. Fortunately, since Sheeva did not know about her past, Sonya was able to scold the Shokanite anyway. Just as Sheeva was about to reply, a portal appeared only yards away from them. All three turned their attention towards it an instant before a dozen mutants charged through it, rushing for the two natives and the Shokanite. Gunfire erupted from the two humans as Sheeva hissed in a cold rage. The first four mutants dropped on the ground as they were hit by bullets. The Shokanite, at the same time, met the first mutant who charged against her. The new invader jabbed his right arm towards her, intending to stab her through the chest. Sheeva twisted her upper body to the left and the blade only cut through air. Before the mutant was able to withdraw his arm, she reached forward and gripped his elbow. With a sharp snap, she broke the elbow and sent forth a shrill scream from the mutant's mouth. It was the only reaction her adversary was allowed because she then gripped his head as he was still bewildered from the pain in his arm. With another sharp snap, she broke his neck and he lifelessly dropped on the ground.

The second mutant who rushed to Sheeva swung his right blade high in front of his face, intending to decapitate her. She ducked out of the way as the knife sailed harmlessly overhead and the mutant's right blade was then pointing towards his left shoulder as a result. The Shokanite quickly stood up and used her upper hands to simultaneously grab her opponent's upper arms. Easily the stronger of the two, she lifted him up into the air as her grip on his upper arms prevented him from using his blades. While he shrieked and attempted to break out of her grip, Sheeva pulled her upper fists apart and away from each other as far as her arms could reach on either side of her. Both the mutant's arms were torn off his shoulders and the rest of his body crashed back down on the ground as the Shokanite still maintained her grip on his severed upper arms. Sheeva then tossed the arms aside as they were now insignificant to her.

Leaping into the air, the Shokanite flew vertically for about forty yards before coming back down on top of a third mutant, instantly crushing him under her weight. The next feeling she sensed was one of pain as a fourth mutant had reached her from behind and sent both his blades into her lower back. The knives stopped short of impaling her from behind, but still significantly damaged her internal organs as well as draining her of more blood. She heard herself screaming as she then felt an upward hoist from behind as well. The mutant responsible was actually trying to lift her up into the air by using the blades which were in her body. Unable to lift the Shokanite with his two arms, since she weighed more than most humans he encountered, the mutant was disappointed as Sheeva remained with her feet on the ground. Still, though, the knives only worsened the damage they had inflicted inside of her as he continuously pulled up on them. Tired of what she saw as his pathetic attempts to prove his strength, Sheeva screamed louder as she intentionally pulled herself forward and his blades withdrew from her back against the mutant's will. Twisting around and ignoring the new pain and the new blood, she gripped his neck with her upper left fist, easily choking him. Before the mutant was able to strike with his green-stained blades again, she turned her upper right hand into a fist and sent a brutal punch into his head. The mutant was dazed after the first punch, but Sheeva did not release her grip on his neck. Instead, her eyes burning with hatred, she roared as she punched him in a similar fashion for at least half a dozen times. Blood exploded out the mutant's mouth, nose and eyes as he was forced to remain on his feet while she delivered the consecutive blows to his head. She only stopped hitting him when she heard the satisfying crack of his neck breaking under the impact of her fist. Sheeva then released the grip on his neck and the fourth mutant dropped dead on the ground.

Ellison, at the same time, saw the first mutant who was able to come close enough whom he knew he could not use the rifle to shoot. The charging mutant screamed as he lifted his right arm over his head, intending to swing it vertically downward towards the human's head. With no other choice, Ellison gripped the M-16 rifle from opposite sides with both hands and lifted the weapon over his head. The mutant's blade crashed into the rifle and sliced it into two pieces, but the impact slowed the blade down enough so that he was able to jump aside and avoid it. Dropping on the ground, the human lifted half of the rifle in each hand before realizing it was now useless. He released his grip on each half of the weapon and let them fall by his feet as he stood. The mutant swung again, this time aiming the right blade for his chest. Ellison pulled his upper body back and the tip of the blade missed his torso by merely inches. The human lunged forward as the knife passed through the air away from him and gripped the mutant's wrist. The invader gasped as he saw the native quickly twisting his right wrist around until the blade was pointed at his heart. With a strong push from Ellison, the knife entered the mutant's own heart and the invader's eyes rolled into the back of his head before he dropped on the ground.

Ellison then spotted a second seven-foot tall mutant charging towards him, but this one was slower since he didn't even hold his blades in an aggressive position. Upon reaching the native, the invader finally lifted his arms in an attempt to strike. The soldier reacted by lifting his own arms and gripping the mutant's wrists. The invader pushed his blades towards the general direction of the human while the human pushed back. The intense and almost motionless scene continued for several instants before the mutant dipped his head low and headbutted Ellison. His forehead crashed into the human's nose, breaking it and loosening several of the native's teeth. The soldier felt his strength being drained after the headbutt and the blades slowly approached his direction.

Sonya dropped the Glock on the ground as soon as the first mutant came too close for her to use it. She flipped upside down and planted her hands on the ground. The invader gasped as he felt her ankles wrapping around his upper chest before he was tossed over her. He wildly swung his arms in the air and then landed painfully on the ground behind her. Ignoring him for the moment because there were others, Sonya returned to her feet just in time to see a second mutant rushing towards her. Lunging forward, she executed a flying kick and met him halfway during his rush. The bottom of her Army boots crashed into his chest and knocked him down backwards. The second mutant landed on his back as the wind was knocked out of him. Not wanting to give him a chance to stand back up, Sonya walked up to him while he was panting and staring up towards the sky. Once next to him, she exhaled as she bent down and delivered a sharp punch between his eyes, knocking him unconscious while he still lay on his back.

Hearing a charging yell, she turned around to see that the first mutant she had leg tossed was on his feet again as he ran back towards her with his blades at the ready. The lieutenant lunged to her left as the invader reached her spot. Unable to stop his frantic forward rush, he dashed past her as she gripped the back of his head. Jumping up and forward, Sonya landed her entire bodyweight on his head, sending the mutant crashing down on his stomach. The invader's face met the ground in a hard impact and knocked him out. Looking around, the kombatant then spotted Ellison struggling with the last standing mutant who had headbutted him. Quickly walking towards the pair, she reached the mutant from behind and turned her right hand into a fist. The last mutant's eyes went blank as she punched him in the back of the head. He saw black and fell limp on the ground without being able to kill the male native. Ellison staggered backwards and fell on his side as he held his fractured jawbone.

As suddenly as it had begun, the attack by the twelve mutants was over as silence overcame the fighting arena. Sonya temporarily looked at the portal from which they had emerged since it had not vanished then. She didn't have long to stare at it, though, because her fellow Special Forces soldier was hurt, the blow against his head having provoked the wound from his upper back. Sheeva was in even worse shape as she gasped and could only remain on her hands and knees while green blood erupted from two injuries in her lower back. Reasoning that the Shokanite needed her help more, the kombatant hastily walked over to where her former enemy was. Sheeva held her lower hand with its palm raised towards the human female as she saw her approaching.

"I am fine", the Shokanite gasped as she only stared down on the ground, "I just need a moment".

"You're not fi...", Sonya began to reply.

"I am fine!", Sheeva snapped back, "I do not need your help".

"OK", the kombatant said, giving up and slightly raising her arms, "But then I can at least help you stand up. It's what teammates do for each other".

Squatting next to the larger figure, Sonya wrapped her arms around the Shokanite's upper back after placing Sheeva's upper right arm around her own shoulders. It was a struggle to help the heavier fighter to her feet. The four-armed warrior did not refuse her help then since she could only stagger to a vertical position even with the human's assistance. As soon as they were standing, another figure emerged from the portal into the Earth realm. Both Sonya and Sheeva moaned in anger independently as they found themselves staring at general Motaro from Kahn's army.

"This is what you have sunk down to?", Motaro grimaced as he addressed Sheeva and recognized Sonya from his previous invasion, "No wonder your race proved so easy to exterminate".

Sheeva hissed in anger as her upper right arm was still wrapped around Sonya's shoulder for support. She tried charging towards the Centaur on her own after she withdrew her arm from the human, but crashed down on her hands and knees before she was able to take a single step forward. Sonya squatted next to the enraged Shokanite, never taking her cold eyes off Motaro. She enfolded Sheeva's upper right arm around her shoulder and helped the larger fighter to her feet again. Both the Shokanite and Ellison were helpless at this moment if the giant Centaur attacked, so the kombatant had to react with them in mind. Knowing her Glock, which was out of her reach anyway, wouldn't do much good against Motaro, she turned her face towards Sheeva to give her instructions.

"I want you to take my friend there and get out of here", the human whispered to her as she indicated Ellison's direction with her head, "I'll finish four-legs here".

"No", Sheeva barked back, "He is mine!".

"You can't even stand on your own", Sonya sharply reminded her, "Being suicidal won't help anyone. I beat him once, I can do it again".

"'Easy to exterminate'!", Sheeva repeated the Centaur's words with spite as she didn't like the idea of having the human fight on her behalf.

"Your race has outlived its usefulness, that is all", Motaro kept grinning, "Nothing personal. There are not many Shokanites while there are almost a billion and a half Centaurs and I am afraid I did not wish to share the spoils of victory with your kind. So we are ridding ourselves of the inconvenience. Kahn agreed to just to please his second-in-command. I should be pleased".

"You will pay!", Sheeva barked back at him.

"Highly unlikely", the Centaur assured as his eyes widened in delight, "Pay at whose hands? Yours? You are practically the last of your kind, especially after my subordinates were through with their task. Just call me the exterminator of Shokanites".

At the mention of his new title, the four-armed fighter tried to rush towards Motaro again, but was easily restrained since Sonya found her weak after she had lost half her blood.

"Go, now", the human kombatant ordered, "He's mine".

Sheeva grudgingly agreed and turned around slowly on her own as she walked back towards where Ellison still lay on the ground. She helped the smaller human to his feet and led him away from the giant Centaur, knowing she needed time to heal and get her strength back before she was able to challenge Motaro.

Having completely forgotten the pain in both her forearms, Sonya felt calm and confident as she approached the Centaur responsible for the first invasion of her realm. Motaro appeared to be even bigger than the last time she had seen him, but she reasoned that her eyes were only seeing more size than she remembered. Once the Shokanite and her fellow soldier were out of the alleyway, the kombatant turned into a fighting stance, ready to kill her opponent for the second time.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott felt himself becoming more tense as he looked into the sphere Durak had created and saw Sonya and Motaro standing only a few feet from each other, ready to fight. He had serious doubts about her ability to defeat the Centaur while both fighters were healthy, but she was now hurt while he wasn't. Durak understood the concern on the human's face as he turned from the sphere to the ninja.

"This has to be done", the nine-foot tall Shokanite explained, "The humans are losing, thanks mainly to Kahn's army of Centaurs while the mutants are merely an irritation".

"And the only reason those Centaurs are serving Kahn is because he has Motaro under his command", Scott finished, "No Motaro, no Centaur army".

"Precisely", Durak said.

"She can't beat him", the ninja flatly stated, "There's just no way".

"Perhaps, but she has to try".

"But... But you can!", Scott next pointed up at the Shokanite, "You could take Motaro out, couldn't you?".

"No, I cannot", Durak slowly shook his head.

"Come on, man! He's exterminating us! He almost exterminated you!", the ninja insisted, "You're bigger and stronger than that sonofabitch. You could give us a big hand here. If you came back for Goro, why can't you do the same for the Centaur too?".

"You misunderstand", the Shokanite explained as Kung Lao listened and already understood his reasons for refusing, "It is not a matter of me not wanting to, but me not being allowed to. Once here, one can only go back to the home realm for one purpose, and that is to kill the people responsible for one's death. And that can only be achieved by risking one's soul. Motaro did not kill me, so I am not allowed to visit your realm to defeat him, no matter how badly I desire to. I have to wait until he comes to me".

"There is only one person who can return to Earth", Kung Lao finished the Shokanite's statement.

Scott stood still for a moment before figuring out what the monk meant.

"Me", the ninja sighed, knowing he wasn't a match against the chief Centaur when alive.

"But I am better now than I was when I was alive", Scott then resumed, "I've trained with you guys, right?".

No one answered.

"Right?", he repeated.

"It would not be worth risking your soul", Durak advised, "If you were to fail at killing Motaro, your soul would be lost. And you'd never see your friends and loved ones again".

"But if Motaro stays alive, then Kahn has over a billion Centaurs at his disposal, with which he'll screw up the Earth realm", the ninja countered, "If Kahn wins, he slaves the souls of everyone on Earth and I don't see them then either, right?".

"Correct", the Shokanite had to admit, acknowledging that the ninja was in a tough position.

"Let's just see what happens before you decide", Kung Lao interjected, "Perhaps you will not be forced to make the choice".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I have been hoping to find you here", Motaro grinned as he and Sonya paced around an invisible circle, both in their own fighting stance.

Sonya did not respond, she only had blind hatred on her mind, though she knew such emotions only hindered her abilities to fight.

"I was asked by one of the council members to only use as much force as necessary with you if possible", the Centaur continued, "But I suppose that is not possible at the moment. It will take too much self-constraint on my part, and the two who left will be next".

"You can kill them, all you have to do is get past me", she whispered, unsure whether he heard her, "Get ready to hurt, tough guy".

Both fighters screamed.

Her first attack was a standard flying kick into his stomach, knocking his concentration for only an instant as he bent down under the blow. Once she landed on her feet, Motaro swung hard, looking to finish the battle quickly and effectively. He was disappointed when she ducked and his fist met only air. Grunting, the Centaur kicked with his left front leg, but Sonya had already jumped to her own left and out of the way of his second attack. As he was withdrawing his left leg, he felt a sudden jab of pain in the right side of his stomach since she had delivered a sharp kick into that area. The lower half of his human-like body snapped towards his left under the blow as he heard himself gasping in pain. More angry than hurt, Motaro turned to his right towards the kombatant and swung his right fist, aiming for her head. He had reasoned that if she managed to duck to avoid this swing, he could reply with a headbutt before she was able to stand back up. As expected, Sonya ducked towards the ground and his right fist sailed over her head. The Centaur screamed as he pushed his own upper body downward, hoping to land his horns into the top of her head. Looking up, the human only had a fraction of a second to react as she saw horns coming down to crash into her forehead. She blindly lunged to her left as Motaro's lowered head reached hers. While on her way to crash on the ground on her left side, she reached towards her right and managed to grip the Centaur's lowered horns. Sonya surprised herself as she was able to push his horns down further before she landed on the ground next to his head. With the added momentum, Motaro screamed in frustration as he felt his horns crashing on the ground next to her.

The Centaur stood back up, his eyes bulging with hatred against the insignificant human female who was only feet away from him. She had embarrassed him in front of his soldiers during his invasion of her realm, forcing him to accept a lowered position as emperor Kahn's servant as a result. She was now distressing him by getting the best of him even though he knew he was her superior in every way. Roaring, he lowered his head and charged towards her, hoping the ten feet in between them would not be enough to give her the time to get out of the way. His hopes were not realized because the human easily jumped to her left and landed on her back as he lunged forward. He passed the area which was only inches away from her and was slowing down to come to a stop when she pestered him yet again. Before he had reached a full pause from his forward charge, she remained on the ground as she placed her palms against the ground and switched her weight on her hands. As he was next to her, the human kicked out with her right leg and her right foot collided with his right front knee. The blow wasn't strong enough to break the knee, but it sent a jolt of pain shooting through the Centaur's body as Motaro staggered forward for several steps before coming to a full stop.

Turning around and feeling fortunate that one of his legs wasn't broken, he saw her already on her feet and in a stance, smiling and daring him to try his attack again. Motaro galloped towards her again, though more slowly and more carefully this time. He decided to kick and swing at the same time, though such a tactic was never a part of his plans before. He never got a chance because the human stepped to her left and planted her right foot into his midsection again, stopping his forward march and forcing him to bend down yet again. Before the Centaur could pull his upper body back up, Sonya delivered a massive uppercut which sent his head snapping violently towards the sky. Roaring from both pain and annoyance, Motaro turned his right hand into a fist and blindly swung downward. His fist collided with Sonya's head before she had a chance to react and easily knocked her down on the ground.

Finally sensing victory, the invader bent down as he saw the human on her hands and knees while she tried to stand. With his left hand, he delivered a second punch downward, that fist crashing into the back of her head and knocking her flat on her stomach. Sonya heard an explosion in her mind as she lay horizontally on the ground and felt the strength being drained from her body. Before she was able to conceive a plan of action to try to retaliate, she felt a sharp pain in the side of her stomach as Motaro kicked her there. The impact lifted her off the ground and twisted her around in midair before she landed hard on her back. She gasped since the powerful blow had knocked the wind out of her and made it impossible for her to breath. Looking up, she saw the Centaur's grinning face as he bent down again and gripped the right strap of her tank top with his left hand. Pulling the beaten human up to her feet, Motaro pulled his right arm back slowly as he made sure she could see the right fist which was about to be swung against her head.

"This has been long overdue", the Centaur grimaced as he was ready to deliver the final blow while she still hadn't recovered from the already inflicted punishment.

Sonya only closed her eyes as she saw the fist racing towards her face. She wasn't strong enough to break out of his grip, much less being strong enough to block the punch. The only thought in her mind was when she asked herself where she could end up as a result of a defeat at her adversary's hands. It was possible that she would open her eyes and find herself with Scott, which she reasoned wouldn't be so bad. Or she might open her eyes and see that her soul was in Shao Kahn's possession, only to be tortured there for eternity. The second possibility wasn't quiet as alluring as the first, so she simply hoped for the best.

She didn't find either ending for her because the next thing she felt was a hissing scream before Motaro loosened his grip on the strap from her tank top was. Sonya crashed back down on the ground and looked up to see that the Centaur was also lying on his side while Sheeva stood on top of his lower, horse-like body. The Shokanite had returned to the scene after dropping Ellison off some distance away and had stomped on the Centaur's back. Even though Sheeva's weight alone would've been enough to crush an ordinary human or mutant, Motaro stood back up unhurt even though she still stood on his body. Outweighing the Shokanite by hundreds of pounds, he found it easy to regain his balance on his feet as Sheeva was forced to jump off him. Seeing Sonya still on the ground and unable to resist on her own, the four-armed fighter reached down and picked the kombatant up by the strap of the tank top again.

"He is mine!", Sheeva hissed as she lifted the limp human about a foot into the air before tossing her aside.

Sonya flew in a semicircle and landed on the concrete ground about fifteen yards away, receiving numerous more bruises as a result and only worsening the wounds in her forearms and ribs. Lying on her stomach, she couldn't raise her head to see Sheeva as the Shokanite incessantly attacked Motaro to avenge the near-extermination of her race. Her hisses and his screams were still in her ears even after it took her over a minute to rise on her hands and knees. The human then shakily rose to her feet before turning her attention back to the battle scene. Her vision was blurry, so she only saw two blemishes fighting against each other. The kombatant considered helping Sheeva, but soon decided that her assistance would not be needed nor welcome. She had failed miserably at trying to avenge Scott's death or at killing the leader of the most lethal division of Kahn's army. Telling herself that she was worthless, Sonya turned away from the scene, lowered her head and limped home.

She was swearing and screaming out loud a few minutes later as she found herself about one block away from her home. The empty feeling in her heart had returned as Sonya walked down the middle of the road, not even trying to be silent since she no longer thought about the invaders.

"Stupid... Stupid... Stupid... STUPID!", she repeated to herself as she came closer to the front door, "What the hell made you think you could take Motaro, huh? Who the hell did you think you were, coming in here with a pair of busted arms and thinking you were gonna beat this stupid, four-legged piece of shit who obviously doesn't have a job? Just because you got lucky once? AAAAAAgggggggggggghhhhhhh!".

The kombatant finally reached the front door and quieted as she twisted the knob. She met resistance because the knob did not turn as she had expected since the door was locked from the inside. Swearing at herself for not having a key on her possession, Sonya turned around while still standing and looked out towards the empty street. She wanted to go inside but didn't know how. Sighing, she began to think about the dilemma. She soon smiled as she figured out her solution.

Turning back around to face the door, Sonya delivered a left front kick next the door knob, breaking the wooden door with ease. Once finished, she limped through the living room and headed straight for the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a chilled pack of six beer bottles, of which she had three more stored. She then angrily marched back to the living room with it after she left the refrigerator door open. Seated on the first couch, she rested the pack next to her and withdrew the first bottle before the bottlecap was twisted off. She felt better as soon as she arched her head back, pressed the top of the bottle against her lips and tasted the beer.

The first bottle was emptied with two long gulps. Not yet drunk, she tossed the empty glass bottle on the floor and quickly pulled a second full one out of the pack. She was still swearing at every person she could think of, mainly herself or members of the invasion army, as she began swallowing the contents of the next bottle.

The pattern continued until she was busy drinking the fifth bottle of beer while the four previous ones rested on the floor by her feet. She was more than halfway finished with the fifth bottle when she saw darkness and finally passed out. The back of her head crashed on the sofa as the remaining beer in the bottle spilled over her black uniform. Her grip on the bottle then loosened and the fifth empty bottle slipped out of her hand and rested next to her on the couch, but she did not know that.

While that occurred, Sheeva hissed as a fist crashed into her jaw and sent her staggering backwards. She told herself that she should have perhaps taken the human female's advice and not have fought against Motaro in her current condition. It would've been easy to just carry the human on her shoulder as she leapt away from the Centaur, but doing so would've meant that Motaro would not have been challenged. So, she had decided with her pride instead of with her common sense and stayed to confront the larger Centaur even though she was extremely hurt and he wasn't. Despite her past bravery, the Shokanite thought that she might've made a mistake since Motaro clearly had the upper hand in the fight.

She saw him charging towards her, intending to stab her in the head with his horns, so she stepped to her left and sent both her right arms forward. Her lower right fist collided with his stomach while her upper right fist crashed into his chest. Motaro staggered backwards under the forceful blows, still surprised that his opponent could've put up such resistance after all the beating she had been forced to endure. Before giving him a chance to recuperate, Sheeva sent her upper left fist into his jaw, snapping the Centaur's head to his own left. Despite the viciousness behind her fists, Motaro simply would not go down in defeat. On the contrary, the Centaur recovered more quickly than any male Shokanite she knew of and responded with a fist of his own aimed for her head. Her head snapped back as blood erupted from her mouth and nose and she involuntarily staggered to the right.

Motaro stepped towards her and delivered a severe pair of blows simultaneously. He swung with his left fist as the same time that he kicked out with his right front leg. The fist impacted with Sheeva's jaw, breaking it, while the Centaur's leg collided with her stomach at the same time. The Shokanite bent down, gasping and spitting out blood as Motaro was ready to swing again. He never got the chance because his opponent used whatever strength she had left to reach up and grip his shoulders with her upper hands. She then pulled his upper, human-like body down as she lifted herself into the air while bending her right knee. The knee smashed into the Centaur's stomach and knocked the wind out of him as he bent down under the impact. Sheeva leg go of his shoulders as she finally saw blood, however slight, flowing out of his mouth.

The sight was all she got to see, though, because Motaro then stood up straight as he roared and gripped her throat with his left hand. Sheeva hissed as she struggled to get out of his grasp by first pulling at his left forearm and then trying to punch at the Centaur directly. The first method did not work because his single arm was still larger and stronger than several of her arms combined. The second method failed because, since Motaro's arms were longer than hers and his left arm was currently extended straight, none of her swings impacted with his flesh. The Centaur replied by sending his right fist into her head twice as the Shokanite heard an explosion each time before he sent a second kick into her stomach. He then released her throat and gripped each of Sheeva's upper arms. Lifting her up into the air while she was dazed, Motaro tossed her backwards. The Shokanite sailed horizontally through the air before her back collided with a brick wall about thirty yards away. She remained on her feet while her upper body swung back and forth as if she was drunk since her concentration was destroyed. She thus didn't see her adversary as he lowered his horns and charged towards her from thirty yards away, looking forward to delivering the last, fatal blow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

From a different place, Scott bit his lower lip as he saw Motaro gripping the throat of the smaller female Shokanite. Durak, Kung Lao and Richards only had a pessimistic expression on their face about the outcome of the fight and the ninja could see why.

"She's losing, isn't she?", Scott asked out loud, meaning the new Shokanite who had saved Sonya's life.

"I'm afraid so", Kung Lao replied when no one else would.

"That son of a bitch has to be stopped, or the Earth doesn't stand a chance as long as his army is still serving Kahn", the ninja thought out loud.

"What you're thinking is nuts!", Richards let him know, "If no one there could beat that jackass, what makes you think you can? This is serious, man! It's not just your life at stake any more".

"I know, I know", Scott turned away from the ball of gas he had been staring into ever since the invasion began, "But I can teleport while they can't".

There was silence for a few instants as the ninja exchanged glances with the others.

"I'm going back", he finally stated, "Durak, help me out".

"Understood, youngster", the Shokanite replied, knowing he could not change the human's mind, "But remember that you can only stay in the Earth realm for a few minutes. I will teleport you through the portal to exactly where your opponent is, and...".

Durak stopped.

"And, when you finish him, come back immediately", he added, "The portal between this realm and the realm of the living is always unstable. So no stopping off afterward to visit any friends, understood?".

"Wait, how can that be?", the ninja reasoned, "What about how Goro stuck around for Rayden knows how long to torment my allies? And what about the ninja called Scorpion that Johnny told me about? He was serving Shang Tsung for a long time just to get his shot at the iceman".

"True", Durak admitted, "But the portal between a living realm and this one is never stable. I cannot tell you how the Scorpion ninja or my brother managed to stay in the realm of the living for as long as they did because I do not know. No doubt their services with the sorcerer Tsung provided them with the knowledge to bend the laws of the universe for their own purposes. But I do not have that knowledge, so I can only help you pay an extremely short visit to Earth, one that could last no longer than a few minutes. You will be able to feel the whereabouts of your enemy and will also be able to teleport there with the speed of thought".

"Oh, fine", Scott sighed as he turned to Richards.

"I don't like this", his former commanding officer whispered only loud enough for him to hear, "You're risking your very existence by going back".

"I know", the ninja replied in his regular voice as he extended his right hand.

Richards didn't try to discourage him further as he gripped the ninja's hand hard.

"One last thing", Kung Lao remarked in the silence.

The ninja and the others turned their face to the hatted monk to see him standing a few steps away with his arms crossed.

"Perhaps there is an aspect from this realm you can take with you other than merely the power of teleportation", the monk went on.

"Such as?", the ninja asked, turning away from the Richards and towards him.

"The art of the shadows from the realm of the deceased", Kung Lao added, "Also known as noob saibot in this realm's mother tongue".

"Noob what?", Scott repeated as Durak already knew what the monk was talking about, "What kind of a moronic name is that?".

"Noob saibot", the monk repeated, not wishing to hear him criticize the tongue he did not understand.

Kung Lao placed his palms together in front of his chest for an instant before separating them slowly. A bright blue pearl appeared between his palms before it headed straight for the spot where the ninja stood his ground.

"This will heighten your senses and your physical capabilities", the monk advised as the pearl approached Scott, "Thus making you as limber as a shadow. I have used it at times before in this realm, but I cannot truly say how much it will supplement your own capabilities once you leave here and return to the realm of the living".

"Hey, every little helps, right?", the ninja replied just before the pearl reached his chest and then dispersed as soon as it came into contact with his figure.

Scott gasped as a cold feeling overwhelmed him, though it only lasted for an instant. He felt himself becoming lighter before looking down at his hands and seeing them turning from the color of his skin to a nearly-transparent shadow. His entire body transformed immediately to one which comprised of a black shadow that could stand on its own. The only part of his body which was not the basic color of black were his eyes, which were now a glowing blue just as the pearl had been before it had reached him.

"Cool! Let's do it", the ninja exclaimed with a smile, though the others could not tell what his facial expression was.

"I cannot say if your heightened senses and reflexes will be enough to defeat your enemy, though, I'm afraid", Kung Lao continued, "But if you should decide not to use the noob saibot art, simply wish so and it will leave you".

"You mean like this?", Scott asked.

As soon as he had finished his short statement, the shadow-like figured disappeared and the ninja's body returned to its usual self.

"Neat, but I'd rather have it on, at least when I'm facing the horseman", Scott added, and his figured returned to being a shadow with blue eyes.

"Good luck, youngster", Durak told him.

"Thanks, I'll see you back here", Scott said as a bright portal appeared behind him.

The ninja presented his right palm towards Richards at a slightly higher level than his stomach. His former superior slapped the upraised palm with his own hand. Turning around, Scott then nodded to Kung Lao and Durak before walking into the portal and vanishing out of their sight.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott teleported into the Earth realm and looked ahead. He temporarily turned from the shadow self to his usual appearance since he did not wish his identity to remain a mystery if he ran into some human allies. The first individual he saw just next to him was the Shokanite as she was still dazed. Turning his attention elsewhere, the human also saw Motaro as the Centaur was rushing to meet his adversary with his lowered horns. With the horseman approaching at an accelerated speed, Scott quickly gripped the Shokanite's lower hand and teleported away, taking her with him. They both disappeared as Motaro was only three steps away. The Centaur saw the entire scene but couldn't stop himself in time, so his horns collided with the brick wall and loosened several bricks from it. Pulling himself back, the invader rubbed his head after the impact, though the pain was nothing he couldn't handle. He smiled as he realized the human ninja was back as a specter, risking his very soul to challenge him. This was going to be more fun than he expected.

Scott and Sheeva reappeared several blocks away from the fight scene as he had her upper left arm wrapped around his shoulder for support since she could not stand on her own. While she bled from the face and the stomach, he eased her towards the ground until the Shokanite was seated on the concrete.

"Just relax", the ninja said, glad to have her weight off his shoulders, "You've been hurt, take it easy".

Sheeva's weary eyes suddenly bulged open.

"No!", she snapped as more blood erupted from her mouth, "I have to go back! I have to finish him!".

Scott pressed his hands downward on her shoulders to keep her from standing.

"HE TRIED TO EXTERMINATE US!", she was screaming now, "I HAVE TO KILL HIM!".

"Getting yourself killed won't do any good!", the ninja countered, "I know he has to die, that's what I'm here for. I promise you, he won't hurt anyone else".

Sheeva calmed down after hearing his words, but was still unconvinced.

"Look at yourself, human", she advised while looking up at him, "I am smaller than Motaro and you are smaller than me, and you want to challenge him?".

"Yes", Scott snapped, feeling strangely confident about his mission.

There was an uneasy silence between the two before the human spoke again.

"Stay here", Scott advised before he teleported away.

He reappeared within a few seconds as he carried several clean towels in his hands. Squatting next to her, he pressed one of the towels against the bleeding wound on her stomach as he set the rest on the ground.

"You should keep a constant pressure on it", he pointed to her stomach with his eyes, "And the same for your head".

She pulled away, refusing the towel that was slowing down the flow of blood from her midsection.

"I am fine", Sheeva replied with a cold stare, "Shokanites do not worry about minor injuries".

The bleeding was serious. In truth, she knew the reason she turned his offer down was because she couldn't handle the thought of a human helping her since she had seen the entire race as an enemy for the last three centuries.

"Well, it's here", Scott got the hint and stood back up, "You know, Motaro's main problem is that he doesn't know how to treat a lady".

Sheeva did not respond, she only maintained a steady eye contact with him as he teleported away from her for good. The ninja appeared back where he had first landed on the Earth realm and saw Motaro standing about thirty steps away. The Centaur grinned as he easily recognized the human he had killed in single combat during his previous invasion of the realm. Steadily approaching the four-legged intruder, the human heard heavy metal music flooding his mind, as he had gotten used to ever since he had joined with the clone. He stopped after he came to within five yards of his opponent.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You were the head of the resistance", Motaro smirked, "You also proved to be pathetic against me. Small surprise your race is losing the battle as we speak".

"Well, you were the head of the invasion force last time", Scott replied, undaunted by the statement, "I guess you're not any more, huh? I hear you're just a demoted servant now".

The Centaur ceased smiling and groaned, the human's words having bruised his ego.

"But I guess that's why you gave yourself a new title. The exterminator of Shokanites?", the ninja continued, already in his fighting stance, "What is that, a new title? Your previous title of being 'the great one' got old already?".

"I always wondered if you would come back for me", the Centaur answered, "What? Are you going to attack me after I have been exhausted like that human bitch had done?".

"No, I wouldn't dream of doing that", Scott let him know, "I'll wait. You may attack when ready, and I'm gonna make sure your death is an exceptionally painful one".

Motaro roared in response, thundering with such force that he was sure any of his students would've cowered under the noise alone. To his disappointment, Scott still seemed unshaken.

"Ooooh", the human spoke with sarcasm, "Look at the little booooy, pretending to be a maaaan".

Though Motaro was his superior in every way imaginable, the ninja knew that the stakes in the fight were different. Scott was fighting for his very soul, and those of everyone else if Shao Kahn had his way, while Motaro was only fighting for his life. The ninja could also teleport at will, since he was currently a specter and not restricted to having to rely on physical movement to reach a destination. Whether or not the motivation and the ability to teleport were enough to compensate for the disadvantages the human faced still remained to be seen. Having almost forgotten, Scott also finally remembered the shadow ability Kung Lao had presented him with. As soon as he wished for it, his body instantly turned into a pitch-black shadow with a pair of glowing blue eyes. His new appearance did not even seem to surprise his giant adversary, though. Standing tall and confident, the Centaur appeared just as relaxed as his human opponent while his muscular arms hung down on either side of his torso with the forearms facing forward. Not needing much of a rest since neither the human nor the Shokanite who preceded the ninja had been much of a challenge, Motaro opened his mouth.

"Begin!", the Centaur ordered, anger flooding his attention.

Scott exhaled and lunged forward on his left foot in a perfect flying kick as soon as the invader had given the word. His extended right leg smashed into Motaro's chest, knocking the Centaur three steps backwards under the surprisingly strong blow. The invader gasped involuntarily as pain shot through his torso and he quickly realized that two of his ribs had been bruised. The human was tougher than Motaro had expected as the ninja gracefully landed on his own feet. Before the Centaur could even think of a proper response, Scott turned his right hand into a fist and twisted to his left. He sent his right foot into Motaro's stomach and knocked the wind out of the Centaur with apparent ease. As the invader's human upper body bent down, gasping for breath, the ninja delivered a brutal uppercut with his right fist. Motaro's face shot upward towards the sky as he felt several of his teeth loosening. A pain even more intense than the one in his chest invaded his forehead.

Looking down, the Centaur's suddenly damaged face met the ninja's shadowy and expressionless features. Unknown to Motaro, Scott was wearing the coldest grin he could ever remember. Still, though, from behind the expressionless face, the human seemed to be nonverbally teasing the invader, asking the Centaur how it was possible that he was hurt while the human was fine. Roaring in both pain and anger, Motaro kicked out with his front right leg. Anticipating the strike, Scott simply vanished and the Centaur's leg sailed into the area where he had been standing a fraction of a second ago. Before Motaro realized what had just happened, the ninja reappeared next to his right side, but behind his human-like upper body, between his front and rear legs. The Centaur only had enough time to turn his face over his own right shoulder before he was hit again. Scott delivered a front kick into his lower horse-like body, the human's foot colliding severely with the tough muscles of his flesh. Motaro raised his face towards the sky and roared again, this time only because of pain, as his upper body arched backwards.

The Centaur twisted around to his left and away from the human. He sent his tail sweeping towards Scott's feet, accelerating the tail end to knock the ninja's feet out from under him. Scott jumped up and the invader's tail passed harmlessly under him while he was still in the air. Turning back to face the human, Motaro readied to headbutt the pesky native who was getting to be more of a threat. As his horns rushed down towards the ninja, though, the human vanished again. Alarmed, the Centaur twisted in his place in an excited manner to spot his opponent when that one decided to show. Despite his efforts, he was still unprepared when Scott appeared to his left and next to his human-like upper body.

"DIE, HORSEMAN!", was the only scream the Centaur heard as the ninja acted.

Scott delivered a quick uppercut with his left fist, sending Motaro's chin snapping back as a result of the impact. Immediately following that, the human then hurled a jab with his right fist, the strike smashing into the Centaur's face while that one still hadn't recovered from the uppercut. To end the blitz, the ninja sent his right elbow into Motaro's face, all three consecutive attacks having been delivered within an instant before the Centaur could swing even once. While Motaro screamed as he felt his head snapping to three different sides, Scott didn't give him a chance to recover because the ninja executed a roundhouse punch with his right arm. His right fist smashed into Motaro's face and knocked the larger invader down on his side. The Centaur saw drops of his own blood staining the ground under his face. His eyes looked up and locked with Scott's shiny blue ones. The four-legged fighter sensed that his own eyes were full of fear while he saw that the ninja's eyes were only occupied with relaxed anger.

"You can't be this good!", Motaro gasped as Scott calmly moved towards him for the kill.

"ON YOUR FEET, HORSEMAN!", the human ordered as he kicked the Centaur in the head.

The invader managed to stand back up despite the latest blow. As he did, though, he received another sharp kick to the chest, one that only intensified the effects of his bruised ribs. Screaming from the sudden and more vicious pain, the Centaur blindly swung ahead of him. The ninja was easily able to jump to his left just enough to be out of the way of the swing before he leapt up into the air. The bottom of Scott's right foot met the invader's chin and decimated all the vigor and stamina Motaro had just moments ago. He was unable to even try a retaliatory move when the ninja landed back on his feet. The Centaur only had enough strength left to stand still, and he staggered in place to succeed at that. Seeing his chance, Scott bent his right elbow and pulled his right arm past his shoulder as the hand was already a fist.

"This is for killingmy friendsduring your first invasion", Scott said in an ominous tone even though Motaro could not see any movement on his darkened face, "I never _did_ get to know how many you butchered".

He delivered a massive punch into the invader's head, snapping Motaro's upper body to the side, though the Centaur still managed to remain on his feet. As long as the invader was not lying on the ground and completely decimated, Scott thought that his job wasn't completed. So the ninja pulled his right arm back again, ready to strike as many times as needed.

"This is for killing Lee", the human remarked.

The statement was followed by a second punch in between Motaro's eyes. The Centaur's upper body snapped aside again as green blood exploded out of his nose and mouth. The invader staggered two steps backwards and almost lost his balance, but still managed to stay on his feet. The human quickly walked after him, eager to finish the fight.

"This is for killing me!", Scott's voice became more enraged.

Motaro felt a third punch crashing into his already bloodied nose, easily breaking it. He roared as an explosion appeared in his mind and his view of the Earth realm became dimmer.

"This is for hurting Johnny!", the ninja continued as he saw the Centaur's eyes rolling into the back of his own head.

A fist impacted with Motaro's head for the fourth time, though the invader had already stopped feeling the pain and only felt a crippling numbness all over his body. For an instant, the Centaur thought he had already fallen on the ground, but he then knew he hadn't when he opened his weary eyes and saw the silhouette of a human standing in front of him. He wanted to stop the native. He wanted to destroy the smaller pest who had just defeated him in a fair fight, but his body just wouldn't respond to his desperate commands to strike back. He felt himself getting more frantic as the strength in his arms and legs was already gone and the human still appeared to be in prime condition.

"You... you...cccan't be... thiss... good", Motaro managed to whisper as the ninja's shiny blue eyes bore through him while the human was getting closer to delivering a fatal blow.

"This is for separating me from Sonya!", Scott barked as his fist delivered a fifth devastating blow against the invader, knocking that one's senses to near-oblivion.

Disappointed to still see the Centaur on his feet, and thus still alive, the human tightened his bruised right fist even more. Pulling his right arm back, Scott's bright eyes locked with Motaro's while the Centaur's eyes were only half open. The ninja hoped he was delivering what would be the last blow. Desperate, the invader screamed and blindly swung his left fist as Scott pulled his upper body back. The fist sailed harmlessly in front of his face before the ninja adjusted his torso in its proper position again.

"And this is for being born!", Scott snarled as he struck.

An uppercut slammed into Motaro's chin and violently snapped the Centaur's body backward. The invader heard a deafening whistle in his mind and only saw black as his body crashed on the ground to never move again. Seeing the leader of the Centaurs lying on the earth, immobile, Scott snapped forth a sharp kick into that one's head. He was satisfied when he spotted no reaction to it. The ninja smiled for an instant before a sharp pain engulfed the side of his stomach, as he had expected. He had been ignoring the signs of weariness as he proceeded against his opponent, but the consequences of his fast and violent actions caught up to him once adrenaline was no longer rushing through him. Finding no more need for it, he wished the noob saibot talent away, so his body turned from the shadowy figure to its usual appearance. Bending down and gasping while he waited for the pain to subside, he heard a telepathic message in his mind as he pressed his right forearm into his stomach.

"Good work, youngster", the ninja heard Durak's voice in his mind, "Get ready to come back. I will teleport you myself since the portal has gotten unstable".

"Wait!", Scott snapped out loud, still feeling pain in his midsection, "Don't bring me back! I can find her, she's nearby!".

"The portal is unstable", Durak repeated to him telepathically, "The sooner we do this, the better it will be".

"I have to see her, man!", the human replied out loud.

The Shokanite instantly understood that he was referring to Sonya as his reason for wanting to remain in the Earth realm longer.

"This is not wise. The...", Durak began to protest.

"Give me five minutes. That's all I'm asking", the ninja interrupted, "Just five minutes!".

Durak could sense from his tone of voice that he wasn't about to agree to anything less, so the Shokanite thought about the choices available for a few moments. He could've teleported the human back against that one's will, but that might've been even more dangerous than waiting the desired amount of time with an unstable portal. So the Shokanite groaned as he spoke to Scott next.

"Five minutes", Durak telepathically warned him, "Not an instant more".

"Thanks", the ninja responded as stood up straight and then he teleported away.

xxxxxxxxxx

Back in the realm of the dead, Durak turned his attention at Kung Lao, trying to read the expression on the monk's face. As usual, he could not.

"I _knew_ he would do this", the Shokanite complained, referring to Scott.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Scott reappeared in the living room where he used to reside for quiet some time before his death. He turned his attention to a few feet away where he spotted Sonya lying unconscious on the sofa with an empty bottle next to her. Once having approached her, the ninja noticed that her uniform was wet, so he slightly bent down and shook the kombatant's right shoulder. She did not respond. Sighing, Scott shook her again, this time with more force. The lack of a response was the same on her part, she remained immobile and out cold. Worried, the ninja gasped at the thought that she might be hurt. He slapped her on the left cheek, hoping to snap her awake.

"Sonya?", he slapped her for the second time, getting the same result as before and becoming more anxious.

"Sonya", he barked as if giving an order and slapped her harder for the third time.

On this occasion, fortunately, he saw a reaction. The kombatant's eyes snapped open while she instinctively shoved away whoever was in front of her.

"CAN IT!", she yelled as the ninja staggered two steps backwards.

Her eyes took a moment to focus on the person who had woken her up as she lay on the couch. Sonya lifted her head as she finally recognized who she was looking at. Contrary to Scott's expectations, her head then crashed back on the couch as she looked up at the ceiling and rested her left palm on her forehead.

"Just great", she told herself, "I'm hallucinating now".

"Sonya, it's me!", the ninja reached forward and gripped her right shoulder again, "I'm really here".

She lifted her head with a dull look in her eyes as she heard his voice. The ninja, in his turn, was anxious because he knew his time was limited. Her eyes widened as she realized she was actually staring at him and he was not simply a figment of her imagination.

"Oh my God", she whispered as she shakily stood up and he stepped back to give her the room.

Warily sending her right arm forward, she lightly poked her hand into the chest to make sure that he was in front of her. When her hand felt flesh, she smiled and gasped.

"Oh my God!", she repeated, louder this time, "You're here!".

Scott didn't give her a chance to say anything else because he grabbed her face with both his hands and pressed his lips against hers. He pulled his face back after a passionate kiss and looked her in the eyes.

"I can't even tell you...", he said before he kissed her again.

He pulled back again, never taking his hands off her head.

"...how long I've waited...", he kissed her a third time.

He pulled back a third time.

"...for this", he passionately kissed her for the fourth time.

The ninja let go of her head then. Sonya sat back down on the couch while staring at him as she still gasped in surprise with a smile on her face.

"How is this possible?", she finally asked as he sat down next to her to the left.

"I only have less than five minutes", the ninja informed as she wrapped her left arm around his shoulder.

"Wait a sec", Sonya went on, "You risked your soul by coming here, didn't you?".

"Yeah, Motaro had to die", Scott replied, "And nobody here seemed to be able to do it".

"Are you crazy!", she pulled her arm off his shoulder, "What if you lose? You can't challenge him! If you lose, it'll mean losing your soul! If no one else could beat him, what makes you think you can?".

"I don't think I can, I know" he added, "I already finished him off".

"But... But how?", she was understandably confused.

"I'm a ghost", he explained, "I can teleport. How do you think I came in here without you knowing it?".

"I dunno", Sonya simply answered, "I figured you used the front door".

"How could I use the front door when I don't even have a key on m..." Scott turned his face towards the doorway and froze in midsentence as he saw the door broken from the outside, "Oh, I guess I could".

"Do you have to leave _now_?", she tugged at his arm, "We could stay if you want".

"I can't, believe me when I tell you it's not a choice", he hated having to say, "I don't have much time. Just came back to finish Motaro and I did, but I wanted to drop by and say 'hi' and ask a favor".

Sonya curiously widened her eyes to ask him what the favor was.

"I need you to destroy Motaro's corpse", the ninja explained, "If his body is not fucked up, Shao Kahn will be able to bring him back to life just like he did after you killed him during the first invasion and this whole thing will be for nothing. If Motaro stays dead, all his Centaurs won't follow Kahn any more because they're only doing this invasion because Motaro is telling them to".

"But... How am I supposed to do that?", her head still ached.

"I don't really know", he spoke fast, "Just be creative, I guess".

There was a short silence as they locked eyes without saying anything.

"With three minutes left, anything on your mind?", the ninja spoke first.

"Yeah", Sonya held his hand while bringing her face closer to his, "I always hated how you died. I never got to hold you. I mean, that was the way things were done, people were not supposed to die alone. I always made sure to be with people when they were dying, to always hold'em in my arms. It happened before, happened a lot that particular night. But after all that, you, the most important person to me, you died alone".

Her voice shook as she finished the last statement since her throat tightened and she fought to hold back tears.

"It's OK", Scott smiled, holding the back of her head and touching his forehead with hers, "It really ain't that bad up there".

"I wanna be with you!", she blurted out.

"I know, I know. I wanna be with you too", he whispered into her ear.

"There's just nothing to believe in any more, Scotty", the kombatant pulled her head back so she could stare into his eyes as she dried her own eyes, "These people aren't worth fighting over, they're not worth getting hurt over. I don't believe in anything any more, not even myself!".

"You remember what you told me after those two Army sergeants had visited and told me that I was through with the military?", he asked, silently cursing the conditions of nature which required him to only have a few minutes in the Earth realm, "I never forgot it when you told me I shouldn't feel sorry for myself".

She tried to answer, perhaps to tell him that it was easier when he was around, but words in her mind only came out of her mouth as incoherent babble. Scott gripped the hand she had previously offered as he made the best of the remaining time left.

"Sonya, you have to trust yourself", he whispered, hoping not to sound like an idiot when he was needed, "If you lower your self-worth, the world isn't gonna try to raise it for you".

"I knooow", she managed to answer.

"I mean, you didn't drink before", he reminded her, "No matter how bad things got, you always believed they would get better. And they will, for now too".

The kombatant stared into the specter's eyes, waiting for him to finish his statement.

"I'll see you for good sooner or later, so don't change", he advised with a slight smile, "I want you to be the same way as you were before".

The ninja leaned forward and kissed her on the lips again. As he pulled back, Sonya's face was calmer as she had her eyes locked with his and was getting ready to say something else. Scott waited until she opened her mouth and spoke. She froze for a few seconds before he heard anything.

"I need to go to the bathroom, I'm gonna be sick", she finally blurted out.

She staggered off the couch and hurried away. Scott remained in a surprised state on the couch as he saw her disappear through the door of the bathroom before he heard her throwing up. The ninja stood and followed, stopping only when he reached door also and looked inside. The kombatant was in a squatted position as she threw up inside the lavatory. It took her at least a minute and a half to empty the contents of her entire stomach before she was able to stand up straight.

"Well, that felt good", Sonya addressed him with a much more sober expression, "I needed it".

"I'm glad", Scott smiled, "So the old Sonya is back, huh?".

"With a vengeance", she smiled back.

Her smile faded when she remembered the few minutes he had told her he was allowed.

"I need you to do something", he continued, speaking in a hurry.

"For you, sure", she replied.

"Not just for me, for everybody", the ninja advised, pointing upwards with his right index finger, "We've been talking, me and some friends up there. There's a weapon thingy that might give you guys an edge in this battle".

"I'm listening", she assured, making sure every instant was put to good use.

"You need to grab whoever you can find and go to Shang Tsung's island", Scott instructed fast, "Get Johnny and Liu to come along".

"Can't", was her only answer.

"Come again?".

"I don't even know where they are now", she clarified.

"Then go alone, but this has to get done", the ninja kept directing, "In a temple on the island, there are scrolls named the secrets of nature or natural or something like that. It's been on the island for Rayden knows how many centuries now. Read it".

"And then?", she was getting curious.

"That's it, just read it", Scott repeated what he had heard from Kung Lao, "The rest should fall into place like a puzzle, or so I've been told".

"You've been told?", she repeated, "Told by who? And how do you know they even know what they're talking about, whoever it is?".

"Somebody up there", he repeated, referring to the Shaolin monk as he pointed towards the ceiling again, "And they know what they're talking about, trust me on that".

"Hold on", she lifted her left hand ahead of her chest, "I don't even know where the...".

"Island is?", he finished.

"Yeah".

"You don't have to know, I can take you there".

"Huh?".

Before she could utter another word, Scott gripped her left hand. Sonya saw her surroundings vanish for a fraction of a second before the bright, blue sky replaced the walls from the room she was previously in. The kombatant opened and closed her eyes several times to make sure she wasn't seeing a mirage as she then found herself standing in the middle of Shang Tsung's island. Scott could easily tell how surprised she was as she first looked at the sky, then the statues which surrounded them both, and then finally at him.

"I'll be damned", Sonya giggled, "You can do this? I thought Rayden was the only one".

"Well, being dead _does_ have its advantages", the ninja grinned back.

Having been brought back to the reality of the current situation, the small smile on her face quickly faded when she heard his words.

"Great", she added in a more somber tone.

Before the ninja could reply, he heard Durak's voice in his mind communicating telepathically.

"Your five minutes are up, youngster", the Shokanite informed, "I am bringing you back".

"Hold on", Scott answered his mentor out loud.

"Say again?", she had heard him as well.

Scott looked first towards the ground by his feet, then around him, as if carefully examining the picturesque statues. He was looking everywhere he could think of since he didn't want to have to look her in the eyes with what he had to say.

"It's time for me to get back", he finally let her know.

"But what about me, then?", the kombatant pressed her left palm on her chest.

"Good point", he hurried, "I thought about this too. Do you remember the portal that Tsung had used when he forced you off this island and into Outworld during your tournament here?".

"Yeah, sure", she scratched the top of her head, trying to recall the exact location of the portal.

"That's not just a portal to Outworld, it's a portal to everywhere", the ninja advised, "It reads a person's thoughts and takes them to the destination they're thinking of. Use it".

"Oh, sounds easy enough", she rubbed her forehead again, gentler this time, "I still wish you hadn't brought me here in beer-stained clothes, though. You could've waited until I had changed".

"Sorry about that", he countered, "It was a choice between your image and the fate of the world. You came second".

They both giggled at the same time as they locked eyes.

"I still think about you every day", she added in a more serious tone, her eyes still set on his.

The ninja wanted to take his time to respond to Sonya by saying a thousand different things, but he didn't have time to set off on a deep speech that could take hours, or even minutes. Feeling his presence in the Earth realm weakening, he held her right hand and pulled it towards his face.

"Same here", he managed to whisper loud enough to be heard before he kissed it.

The ninja then vanished into thin air and she was left alone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"My operational name was Smoke", the android recounted as the three kombatants listened with interest, "I remember existing for almost three centuries now, though I might have been around for long before then".

"How's that?", Johnny was finally confused.

"My kind was never meant to develop a consciousness or be able to think independently", Smoke explained, "Our sole task was to be sent into a realm if Kahn tried to conquer it but failed. Once Kahn's armies were withdrawn, our mission was to activate our internal detonator and destroy everyone in that realm".

"Huh, if he can't have it, no one can", the actor grinned.

"Precisely", the cyborg went on, "Of course, we are only insurance. Kahn has never been forced to use any one of us since his armies have always decimated any realm he wished to own".

"Until now", Johnny finished.

"So how is it that you are here and not serving the emperor?", Kitana asked.

"I became capable of independent thought, something that was believed impossible", Smoke added, "My inventor never imagined that a weapon would be able to think and feel, but I do. I do not even know how that is possible, but it is".

There was a brief silence before he continued.

"That was three centuries ago, and that was when I escaped from Kahn's realm", the android went on, "He has been searching for me ever since. This forest behind us is the one placethat his soldiers areafraid to venture into. I am safe since the trees do not have a taste for metal, only a taste for flesh".

"Ugh", Johnny felt his stomach getting ill.

"A deity informed us that you could prove valuable to our side", Liu said out loud, "Would you be willing to fight for us?".

The android did not reply for a moment.

"I realize we're asking for much, but we do need an answer soon", the monk pressed, "We'd understand if you chose to turn us down, but the invasion of my home realm is under way as we speak. We need to return to it, either with or without you".

"I have never encountered mortals who were not afraid to see me before", Smoke finally answered, "You three are the first to treat me with such respect. To treat me as a human being, I suppose".

Kitana smiled at his remarks as all kombatants' eyes were set on the cyborg.

"I appreciate it", Smoke bowed his head slightly, "And you can count me in".

"Great!", Johnny grinned as he clapped his hands together, "Let's see how far mister ugly Kahn lasts now".

The android, Kitana and Liu momentarily stared at him.

"What?", the actor kept grinning, "He has to be ugly to wanna hide behind a mask all the time".

"Probably", Liu grinned next.

"Kahn is the brains behind the invasion of your realm", Smoke advised, staring randomly at Kitana as he spoke, "Your first objection should be to assassinate him".

"It's not my realm", the princess placed her right palm below her throat, "I am from the Outworld".

"Impressive", the cyborg replied, "But you are still fighting Kahn".

"Should we return to Earth, then?", the monk addressed the two other kombatants.

"Negative", Smoke flatly stated, "My experience indicates Kahn usually stays in his own realm until an invasion is complete. He can be found in his home realm".

"Take us there", Liu immediately countered, "He is mine".

"I am not sure you can defeat him", the cyborg's reply was blunt.

"I'm the best", the monk responded without showing any emotion, "Unless you have a better candidate, I plan to do this".

"Look, Liu, I know you're good, but nobody's _that_ good", Johnny warned, "Mister ugly has, like, ages of experience and only God knows how many souls increasing his power".

"Any better ideas?", Liu asked.

"How about you?", the actor pointed towards Smoke.

"I am afraid I am not qualified", the android shook his head, feeling regret, "If Kahn were to see me coming for him, all he would have to do is to give one verbal command to power up the scores of cyborgs he has in storage to counter me. If I am not threatening his personal life and only those of his soldiers, he will not think enough of them to use the cyborgs then".

"So that leaves Liu?", Johnny pointed at the monk, not liking what he heard.

"I am afraid so", the cyborg told him.

"Do not worry about me", the monk crashed his right fist into his left palm, "I am ready for Kahn. The only thing left for us is to devise a second plan in the event that we should all fail and Kahn should emerge unharmed".

None of his comrades understood what the monk was talking about, so the White Lotus member was forced to clarify.

"How were you programmed to destroy an entire realm if Kahn ordered you to?", Liu addressed the cyborg.

"By activating my internal detonator", Smoke explained, knowing the mortals would not understand if he became too specific, "The suicide mission creates a chain effect which annihilates all life within an entire realm in a matter of moments".

"Can you activate it if we lose?", the monk questioned next.

"Not in Kahn's own realm", the android clarified, "It was a safeguard put in at the time of my original creation. No cyborg may activate an internal detonator in Kahn's home realm, only in foreign realms".

"You sure?", Johnny pressed.

"Certainly", Smoke countered, "I am not afraid of my own termination, if that is what you are infering. My life has had no purpose so far, except to serve the desires of a madman. I have been alone ever since I escaped from Kahn. It has reached a time that I will not resist my termination once it is at hand".

"I'm sorry", the actor sighed, "I didn't mean...".

He stopped before looking away in frustration. The stress of the latest attack from the emperor was finally beginning to effect him, and having to explain his feelings to a machine didn't make things easier.

"So the internal detonator cannot be used againt Kahn's realm", Kitana interjected instead.

"But that was before you began thinking on your own, correct?", Liu pointed out.

"Correct", Smoke nodded.

"So could you override that safeguard now?", the monk smiled despite the gravity of the situation he was discussing.

Smoke considered the possibility.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonya assumed that the scrolls would be kept in the temple she was approaching. Her main reason for believing in such a way was because it was the only structure on the entire island which did not possess a haunted, evil appearance. She thought it was a cozy-looking temple as she reached the gate which surrounded it. The gate was not meant to keep anyone out, as Shang Tsung could have had scores of guards surrounding the place had he chosen to when he was in power on the island. Instead, the temple gate was filled with large, peaceful statues of stone which appeared approximately every twenty yards. As the cool breeze brushed through her hair, the kombatant noticed the distant hills which were situated behind the temple for the first time. It was impossible for her to guess how far those hills were, but the distance was great enough so as to put them beyond the reach of someone who spent an entire day walking towards them. The sight forced her to realize that she had underestimated the size of the island ever since the first time she had seen it.

Coming closer to the front door, the kombatant combed the area just to make sure there were no other people around her even though she knew she was alone. She then took several more steps forward and was finally able to touch the front, and probably only, door. Pushing ahead with both hands and trying to ignore the pain caused from the knife wounds there, Sonya was glad when she felt the massive door opening with ease. The daylight from outside quickly illuminated the pitch-black darkness inside. Inching towards the dim center of the room and careful not to trip over her own feet, she set her eyes on a box which was resting on the floor. The box was made out of stone and even had a horizontal stone cover. Once there, she knelt down in front of the box and gripped the edge of the cover with both hands.

With a groan, the kombatant pushed the stone cover aside. It fell on the ground next to the box with a massive thud and amid an explosion of dust. Sonya coughed twice as the dust reached her face, but she soon wiped it away with her right hand and then sent her left hand inside the box itself. Her left thumb and index fingers wrapped around what felt like a large piece of paper which was wrapped as a cylinder. Hoping it was the scrolls she was told about, she gripped it and withdrew the wrapped paper from the box. While still on her knees, she turned around away from the box so as to have more access to the small amount of sunlight which had interfered with the total darkness of the room. Pulling the paper open with both hands, which proved to be over four feet long, Sonya brought her face to within a few inches of its contents.

"Huh", she remarked out loud, surprised that the paper could have lasted in such good quality after having been in the box for centuries.

She told herself that it would be just another incident in life for which she would have no explanation. After everything she had witnessed so far, though, it came as no surprise. Squinting her eyes, Sonya began to interpret the contents on the paper to the best of her abilities. There were no written words, the entire paper was covered with roughly-drawn pictures of animals. She easily recognized a hawk, a jaguar, a bear, a shark, a scorpion and a bull. There were some other figures, but she would need more light to recognize their precise meaning.

The kombatant then visually combed the entire paper from top to bottom and on both sides as she searched for written words, but she found none. Feeling disappointed and surprised, she roughly rewrapped the paper back into the shape of a cylinder. Still holding on to it with her right hand, Sonya then stood up as her attention was set back to the door and the sunlight from outside.

"That's it?", she asked herself out loud, "Just a bunch of animal pictures? That's what Tsung was keeping all this time?".

As she took her first step towards the door to leave the inside of the temple, the kombatant froze because a paralyzing feeling overtook her body. The piece of paper slipped out from between her right fingers and landed gently on the floor. She saw crystal sparks appearing out of the darkness and surrounding her from head to toe. Before she could react, Sonya heard herself screaming as she closed her eyes. She knew she was not in pain, but she also could not stop screaming. She then noticed her voice changing into a sharper shriek, one that she had never heard emanating from her own vocal chords before.

Feeling a strange sensation in her arms, Sonya twisted her head towards her right hand while she was still crying out. Her eyes widened as she saw that her right arm could no longer be seen. Instead of five fingers, a hand and a forearm, the kombatant saw a giant blue-green wing where her right arm used to be. Though strangely not feeling fear, she roughly twisted her head to her left to see that another wing had replaced her left arm as well. Sonya's clothes were then absorbed by the massive blue-green feathers that rose out of body as she felt her blond hair retracting back into her skin. Within another instant, her legs were replaced by shorter, stronger limbs and her head was turned into one which belonged to a bird of prey. Then, the once-human kombatant felt different as she remained standing in the middle of the room. She felt stronger and more agile even though she remembered everything about who she was and where she came from. Sonya's mind had remained unchanged, but instead of a human body, a giant hawk stood in the spot where she had been only an instant ago.

Opening her beak, she shrieked and flapped her wings. The hawk smoothly glided through the air until she reached the door, when she turned towards a vertical position while still in midair. She easily flew out of the opening in the doorway and was then outside the temple and soaring towards the sky, unrestrained by the walls. The rush of adrenaline was unlike anything she had experienced after years of training in the martial arts. The wind struck against her wings as she gained altitude at an accelerating speed until she was at least half a mile over the surface of the island. She then changed course and began flying horizontally, though traveling almost as fast. Looking down, she could see the entire island without even having to move her head. The entire place looked extremely peaceful as it was surrounded by a calm ocean. Nothing but water could be spotted around the island as far as the eye could see, even from as high up a position as hers.

It took Sonya several minutes to come back down to the solid ground on the island below. If she had a choice, she would've remained as a hawk for as long as possible. However, she knew the invasion of her realm was still proceeding while she was airborne, so she had to stop flying through the air, no matter how pleasurable it felt. She also knew she had to find Liu and Johnny to tell them about the secret she had found. Descending towards the ground, her feet gently landed on the stone which was just ahead of the open temple door. Once her feet were firmly supporting her body, she mentally decided to revert back to a human form. Abiding with her wishes, her body changed dramatically just as it had done a short while ago inside the temple. The wings retracted and her human arms appeared in place along with her legs. Her commando outfit with the beer stains on it reappeared as her blond hair grew back out of the top of her head.

Sonya gasped and exhaled as the sudden stop of adrenaline forced her down on her hands and knees. She smiled and gasped for about a minute before having caught her breath. It was only then that she was able to stand back up on her feet. In an excited frenzy, she turned towards the open doorway which led back to the inside of the temple and rushed through it. She almost ended up impacting into the way because she was in an enthusiastic hurry, but she ultimately made it back inside. Making her way through the relative darkness, she found the wrapped paper that had slipped out of her hand and picked it back up. She then rushed back out, intending on sharing the news with her fellow kombatants, once she found them back home.

"It's how the paper is read", she told herself as she quickly walked towards the same spot where Shang Tsung had stood when he had kidnapped her during the tenth tournament, "The reader can become whatever animal she sees first on the paper at will. I saw the hawk".

Once standing on the portal, she did her best to clear her mind so she could think of home. She visualized her room and it was soon afterwards that the bright mist overtook her. The mist vanished within seconds and left her alone. Looking around, Sonya exhaled, having calmed down considerably. She was back inside the bathroom of her home.

Sonya pressed forward with all her strength as the chainsaw resisted her push against it. Once back home from the island, she had made sure to straighten her concentration by taking a great amount of frustration out on her punching bag. What had followed next was a quick shower and a switch from the beer-soaked black commando outfit to the neon-green sweatpants and halter she had kept from Motaro's first invasion. She had made sure to keep the Glock and the switchblade knife which was still strapped next to her left ankle. The large scrolls with the animal illustrations was wrapped several times and currently rested inside the left pocket of the green sweatpants. With the blond hair pulled smoothly away from her face in a tail at the back of her head, she squeezed her teeth together as she incessantly drove the chainsaw downward.

Once in prime shape, the kombatant had left her home and walked around for about half an hour until she finally found an abandoned construction sight. There, she didn't have to look far before she spotted a chainsaw sitting idly by several other pieces of equipment. It was this chainsaw which she had gotten a hold of and brought to the exact area where she had previously lost the fight against the now-deceased Motaro. Following Scott's wishes, Sonya was now busy cutting the corpse of the Centaur chief to pieces. All four of Motaro's legs and his right arm were already truncated from the rest of his body and were now lying in a green pool of blood as she was vigorously cutting through his left arm at the shoulders. The chainsaw protested and coughed at having to cut through such a hard substance as the Centaur's flesh, but she didn't pay any attention to it. The chainsaw then began emanating smoke as drops of green blood were constantly splattering her face and chest before the Centaur's second arm was finally cut off.

Happy to see the sixth body part now lying on the ground away from the main body, Sonya knew she only had one more spot to aim for. Lifting the still-energetic chainsaw, she held it in the air for an instant before swinging it downward into Motaro's neck. The machine's friction with the invader's neck sent forth an explosion of new blood as she pressed downward. She was pleasantly surprised when the neck proved to be easier to cut through than the rest of his parts as the chainsaw was able to slice through it in a matter of seconds. As Motaro's decapitated head rolled off his shoulders, Sonya finally dropped the exhausted chainsaw next to her feet and stepped away from the gory scene. She reached into her bright green sweatpants and withdrew the towel she had brought along for the task. She used it to wipe the Centaur's blood off her face, arms and stomach without worrying about the many drops which covered the halter since her clothes and his blood were the same color.

Dropping the bloody towel on the ground also, the kombatant next turned and walked towards her gold-colored jacket and the holstered Glock which waited several steps away. Wearing the holstered weapon around her torso before putting the jacket on, she next heard heavy footsteps approaching. She instinctively reached for the handle of the pistol before she realized who the other individual was. Her right hand relaxed as it was a few inches from the weapon when she saw Sheeva approaching her while the Shokanite wore a bewildered expression on her face.

"It was the most incredible event", the Shokanite recalled out loud as she came closer to the human, "A male native appeared out of nowhere and saved my life. He said he was here to kill Motaro. He apparently succeeded".

"I know", Sonya smiled, "He was my soulmate, he paid me a visit too".

"What is the meaning of that?", Sheeva pointed past her towards the Centaur's severed carcass.

"It's something he said I should do", the kombatant explained, still feeling proud of her creativity, "This wasn't the first time four-legs here had been killed, but Kahn brought him back to life before. This was a way to make sure that it doesn't happen again since you can't resurrect someone you can't find".

"We just leave him then?", the four-armed fighter questioned perplexed.

"No, we should separate the parts", the kombatant walked back to the Centaur's remains.

"Since you've got four arms, I guess you shouldn't have a problem carrying his legs away", the human told Sheeva as she bent down and placed both Motaro's arms in her right arm before gripping his horns with her left hand.

"It _would_ be a pleasure", the Shokanite hissed, glad to see her enemy in pieces and even happier to hear that he would remain that way.

"Listen", Sonya stopped before she was about to leave the scene, "If you wanna stick with me, I guess that'll be OK, at least until all this invasion stuff is over. I'm willing to try to start over. Hell, a Shokanite will be an asset when she's on my side".

"Thank you", Sheeva placed her lower hands together and bowed as she outstretched her higher arms horizontally, "But I am needed elsewhere, I will fight the emperor's forces here until he leaves this realm. After that, I have to return to my home".

There was a short silence as the Shokanite then locked eyes with the human.

"I have three hundred years of foolishness to atone for", she somberly whispered, "I can never forgive myself for my actions in this realm. My race needs to regain the respect it lost while serving Kahn for the past five centuries".

"OK, good luck", Sonya nodded her head, "And look, no matter what you do after this, you did something good here when you switched sides".

Sheeva shook her head in disagreement.

"You saved my life", the kombatant insisted, "That doesn't make up for what you did before, but I'll always owe you for that. If you need to find me for any reason, just ask Rayden the deity, he'll know how to find me".

"I will remember", the Shokanite extended her lower right hand, indicating she knew about some human customs, "Thank you again".

Surprised, Sonya smiled as she dropped Motaro's two arms and gripped the Shokanite's palm with her own right hand.

"Here is a piece of information which may prove useful", Sheeva continued, "If you wish to find the emperor, the portal to his realm is situated in an area in this city, I believe it was called Frontclane Rad. I have already used it to visit his castle, you may desire to do the same. This invasion cannot last if the emperor is defeated".

"Rad?", Sonya repeated, feeling confused.

"Frontclane and...", the Shokanite stopped, trying to clarify, "It was two letters after the word. How does one say, Rid, Red?".

"You mean road!", the kombatant finally understood that she was trying to pronunciate FRONTCLANE RD but didn't know what RD stood for, "Frontclane Road!".

"Yes, obviously", the Shokanite was relieved the human interpreted correctly.

Sheeva said nothing more as she stepped away from her and picked up Motaro's four legs. Seeing it, the kombatant bent down and acquired the Centaur's two arms again before she and the Shokanite walked towards opposite sides, looking to separate the Centaur's parts. Walking away from the four-legged invader's truncated corpse with his head and arms in her possession, Sonya partly turned her face and smiled.

"I'd like to see Kahn bring _that_ back to life", she snickered to herself.

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Motaro snapped his eyes open as he felt pain leaving his body. He looked up to see a bright sky which was as pure as snow, though his surroundings were exceptionally dark. Wondering where he was, the Centaur spotted the first nearby figure and recognized him to be a human.

"Hey, look what the cat dragged in", Scott grinned as he stood at ease, "Do you know where you are, horseman? You're dead, I killed you".

Motaro roared in anger as he set eyes on the ninja, but Scott retained his grin and seemed unshaken. The reason the ninja was not worried was because he was not the only individual to be waiting for the chief Centaur to arrive. He stared into Motaro's eyes as the larger warrior slowly approached him in a menacing fashion.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you", the ninja warned, still wearing the grin which annoyed the Centaur, "You have bigger problems than me, and I do mean bigger".

The human casually pointed past Motaro with his right index finger. Feeling curious, the eight and a half-foot tall Centaur turned around and his eyes widened as he realized he had to look up to make eye contact with the person behind him. Motaro had never been forced to look up to stare into anyone's eyes before, this was the very first time. He hadn't even known that it was possible for a nine-foot tall individual to exist.

"The exterminator of Shokanites, huh?", Durak whispered as his red eyes shone in the darkness.

Motaro cursed under his breath as he saw the larger Shokanite turning the upper right hand into a fist. Durak swung his upper right arm and his fist smashed into the Centaur's face, sending Motaro staggering away in pain. His four-armed opponent quickly followed him before landing a second punch into his stomach with the lower left fist. The Centaur bent down in more pain before the Shokanite sent his upper right fist crashing down into the back of his adversary's head. Motaro lost his balance as he felt an explosion in his head and fell on the dark ground. He turned his face to look up at his opponent as he couldn't believe there existed a warrior who possessed more raw strength than him.

"That is only a taste of things to come, Centaur!", Durak barked, "From now on, you are at my mercy".

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Sub-zero was busy creating a small amount of ice so one of the soldiers could apply it to his own aching forehead. It was then that major Briggs gave the alarm that he had spotted more invaders. Soldiers instantly grabbed firearms as the ninja saw Olsen and Pensky doing the same. Expecting to send forth more of his ice talent, Sub-zero leapt out of the back of the military truck before he stopped because none of the soldiers were opening fire. His attention was diverted towards the same direction as theirs since they saw dozens of Centaurs marching quietly down the street from about fifty yards away. Instead of paying any attention to the humans, though, the four-legged invaders only stared ahead as a bright portal appeared in front of them. They all quietly stepped through it and were soon gone.

"Again?", one of Jax's soldiers asked out loud, obviously remembering the Centaurs' exit during the first invasion.

"What the hell was that?", major Briggs himself turned and asked the ninja, though he knew Sub-zero probably did not know either, "I thought they were winning".

"I do not know", the ninja shook his head, "I seriously doubt Kahn called them off, so they must have stopped serving him".

"Hey, who cares why they're leaving as long they are?", Pensky added, "Those were the toughest ones of the bunch. Without 'em, we only have the four-arms to worry about, and there aren't a lot of them around here, and those blade-carriers, who are nobody".

No one in the makeshift platoon knew that most of the small number of Shokanites who survived Kahn's attempt to wipe them out had already returned back home and were no longer in Earth.

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"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CENTAURS HAVE DESERTED?", emperor Kahn thundered at the news.

The human servant who had delivered the message knelt in front of him, trying not to quiver. Shang Tsung eyed his emperor with a cautious look, telling himself that a temper tantrum would not serve any purpose, except to deplete the already-shrinking force they seemed to have.

"My lord, I am sure we can fix this situation", the sorcerer spoke up, "The reason is clearly because Motaro has again been defeated in single combat".

"Yes, that fool probably did not last his first encounter with the natives", the emperor calmed considerably, turning back to the human servant in front of him and ignoring the sorcerer.

"Reptile's telepathic sense could track his cadaver down and our servants could then transport him back here so you can resurrect him", the sorcerer added.

"I know how to solve the problem", Kahn went on, addressing the smaller servant who was still on his knees, "Get Reptile to find the fool's remains and have it brought before me so I can bring the fool back to life. We can then get the Centaurs' loyalty back".

"An excellent idea, my lord", Shang Tsung grimaced.

The human servant quickly stood up and, thankful for not being on the receiving end of the emperor's temper, dashed out of the room.

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It wasn't long before Shang Tsung entered the emperor's private chamber with new reports of their progress while Kahn was seated on his throne. The sorcerer bowed before Kahn allowed him to speak.

"My lord", he began, "We have found Motaro's remains, but we have a problem".

"FINALLY!", Kahn impatiently raised his arms, "It is about time! Have his body teleported before me at once!".

"But my lord, we do have a problem", the sorcerer repeated with more urgency in his voice.

"IT IS NO MATTER!", Kahn barked from behind his steel mask, "ONCE THE FOOL IS RESURRECTED, THE CENTAURS WILL BE OURS AGAIN, AND SO WILL THE EARTH REALM SOON AFTERWARD. NOW DO NOT CONTRADICT ME AGAIN!".

"Yes, my lord", Shang Tsung sighed and bowed again.

An instant after he issued the telepathic order to Reptile, the emperor's servants in the Earth realm teleported Motaro's remains to Kahn's private chamber. The emperor stood up slowly while he viewed the truncated corpse which was missing arms, legs and a head as it appeared in front of him. Shang Tsung sighed again, shaking his head in disapproval. The plan in the sorcerer's mind was not going very well. His main objective for participating in the invasion of the Earth realm would not be achieved if the realm wasn't conquered. And without the Centaurs, the mutants might not be able to defeat the Earth natives alone. Feeling disappointed, the sorcerer excused himself and left the room as Kahn was speechless for the first time since Shang Tsung had known him.

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Having buried the two arms and severed head to the best of her abilities in the short amount of time allowed, Sonya had the Glock held with both hands as she proceeded forward. She remembered thinking that the jacket felt surprisingly comfortable as she spotted movement while walking back to the area where she had left the main bulk of Motaro's carcass. The kombatant was surprised to see that the primary trunk of the Centaur's corpse was already missing. In its place remained several pools of green blood and the chainsaw she had used. Confident that Kahn would not be able to achieve anything with the body he currently possessed, she turned her attention to the movement she had spotted. She had hoped to be able to make her way towards Frontclane Road, so she tensed up when she noticed there might be an earlier challenge. Though she wished she could've brought her fellow kombatants along, she didn't know their current whereabouts, or even if they were still alive. Sonya knew that Sheeva probably would not have returned in her direction, so she lifted her arms until the handgun was aimed in front of her face. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ellison trying hard to retain his grip on an M-16 rifle as another man accompanied him.

"Lieutenant", Ellison greeted her formally.

"Private", she smiled and nodded in response, "Good to see you again, especially since you're in one piece".

"Talking about that, what the hell is this?", Ellison pointed at the chainsaw and the green blood as he limped towards her.

"Let's just call it an insurance policy", she let him know as she eyed the man who was with him.

"This is Nelson", the soldier pointed at the man.

"Hi", she addressed the stranger.

"This is lieutenant Blade", Ellison turned to Nelson, "You can call her Sonya".

"Oh, is that so?", she asked him with a smile, "You're getting a little too comfortable with this, I see".

"Nah, just glad to see somebody here alive other than me", Ellison added.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be addressed as lieutenant until this is all over", Nelson reassured, appearing glad to have some company himself.

"I think the tide has already begun turning in our favor", she advised them both, "The death of four-legs reassures that we won't see any more Centaurs around here, and with the Shokanites turning on Kahn, the mutants are the only ones left to worry about".

"No kidding?", Ellison questioned, "Why would all the Centaurs leave because one of them left behind pints of green blood?".

Sonya was about to tell him that Motaro wasn't dead and not merely missing. Before she could answer, she spotted more movement out of the corner of her left eye. As she was turning her face in that direction, an exceptionally large mutant emerged from about forty yards away and rushed for the three humans. She and Baraka locked eyes for an instant as he bolted towards the three natives with his blades held ahead of him. The invader was extremely agile for someone his size because he covered the distance between himself and the humans within the time it took Sonya to twist the Glock towards him. Ellison didn't even have time to raise the rifle he was holding as he saw the mutant charging towards him first and heard Nelson screaming out of fear. Baraka's left blade entered Ellison's upper chest as the human felt a paralyzing numbness overcoming him. His vision blurred soon after and then he only saw black as he felt himself falling on the ground. Somewhere from a far distance, he heard Nelson still screaming and Sonya opening fire four times.

Sonya, on the other hand, had already trained the Glock on the seven-foot tall mutant as she saw him swinging his left arm towards her partner. Unfortunately for her and for Ellison, Baraka had proven to be the fastest individual on the scene since he had stabbed the soldier before she had been able to react. Once the mutant's bloody left blade was withdrawn from Ellison's torso, though, Baraka had found himself staring down the barrel of her 9mm semiautomatic. The kombatant had pulled the trigger four times as her partner from the military fell down on his stomach on top of his own rifle and no longer moved. The mutant howled as his chest was pierced by the four rounds from her handgun and he was pushed backwards as a result. In his own turn, Baraka fell on the ground and landed on his back merely feet away from the last native he had assaulted. Both he and Ellison were lying in a pool of their own blood, except that the native was facing towards the ground and was unconscious while the invader was facing the sky and was still awake as he moaned.

Looking up helplessly, Baraka saw Sonya roughly holstering the handgun she had used to critically wound him. Her action appeared strange since she could have fired one more shot to his head and killed him for sure. Breathing heavily, as with anger, she ignored Nelson's ceaseless yells while she walked over to where Ellison lay. Bending down, the kombatant gripped the muzzle of his rifle as it was the only part of the weapon which was not covered by his upper body. She pulled as she stood back up, lifting the rifle with her. Then, holding the rifle like a baseball bat, she approached Baraka, feeling glad that the mutant was still alive to witness the events. Her eyes seemed to be on fire as her furious face looked down towards him.

"I bet you think you're tough", she snarled at him as she came closer.

She finally stopped advancing when her feet were touching the mutant's knees.

"I bet you think you have a serious bloodlust and that makes you special", she angrily added as she still stared down into his eyes.

Baraka did not possess the strength to reply, he could only lay down and return her glance as he felt himself bleeding to death.

"I bet you think you're bad!", she barked.

Then, she suddenly calmed down. There was a moment of silence as Sonya and the mutant kept locking eyes, with him wondering what his fate held for him.

"Well, I'm worse", she finally concluded in a relaxed tone.

Without another word, the kombatant tightened her grip around the muzzle of the rifle with both hands and raised it over her head before swinging it down towards Baraka's head. The heavier handle of the M-16 rifle crashed into the mutant's face and an explosion of blood erupted from his eyes, nose and mouth. Seeing him still awake, she grunted as she angrily lifted the rifle over her head again. With another grunt, she swung it towards his head for the second time. The second impact landed the edge of the rifle in between his eyes and the mutant ceased moving. Unsure whether he was dead or only unconscious, she decided to be certain.

Nelson appeared to be getting more hysterical as he mumbled in a frightened fashion while watching her beat the mutant to death. He saw her lifting the rifle and swinging it down towards the invader's head over a dozen times after he had stopped moving altogether. She grunted with every violent impact which generated between the handle of the rifle and the mutant's damaged head. Nelson actually felt relieved when she finally halted the brutal assault when she noticed that the invader's skull had been crushed. Satisfied and panting, the kombatant then indifferently dropped the bloodied rifle on the ground next to her feet. Nelson thought she was finished, but he was mistaken. Sonya then withdrew the Glock from her shoulder holster and aimed the muzzle of the handgun down towards the dead mutant's pulverized head. She calmly pulled the trigger twice, sending two more bullets into his face even though she knew he was already deceased.

Ellison expected to see an angel or some other heavenly being when he slowly opened his eyes. Instead, he recognized Sonya's face as the kombatant was seated next to him on the ground while still holding the 9mm Glock in her right hand, which in turn rested on her lap. Nelson was seated a few feet away from them both as a fire had been started and was burning between the three individuals. The private felt like he was lying on the ground on his back as he asked himself what had happened. Wondering the reason for the fire, Ellison lifted his head and soon realized that his upper back protested against any movement at all. He saw that Sonya's jacket was loosely wrapped around his torso while she was only dressed in the halter and empty shoulder holster above the waistline. The kombatant turned her head towards him when she heard movement from his direction.

"How do you feel?", she asked.

"Like I look", Ellison answered as he groaned from the pain, "And I can't fucking move!".

"I know", she sighed, "You're gonna need quite a while to adjust to the wound. I wouldn't move if I were you".

"What happened?", the soldier asked next.

"I had to burn the knife wound to stop the bleeding and kill the infections", she let him know, "It was needed to save you".

"Great", he groaned again.

"Lie back down", she rested the handgun on the ground and patted him on the chest with her right hand, "I've got both the pieces. Nobody's gonna annoy us without me seeing them".

Ellison would've liked to protest, but he felt like he had been staying awake for three days straight without a minute of sleep. The new injury had drained him of all energy and he knew it well. He lay back down on the ground as he caught sight of Baraka's corpse lying nearby. The mutant had been shot several times in the torso and didn't even seem to possess a face any longer, so the soldier knew he was no longer a threat. Ellison then wondered how long he had been unconscious, but later thought he didn't need to ask. It was still daytime outside, that's all he needed to know. He felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness when he heard a human voice, one that was spoken in a whisper as if the person behind it didn't want him to hear the words. The soldier had been trained to recognize and be alert about the smallest detail, so he still recognized Nelson's voice despite the other man's attempt to be quiet while talking.

"He's gonna slow you down", Nelson whispered to Sonya.

"I don't care", the lieutenant replied in a louder tone.

"You have to take advantage of the fact that you're still healthy", Nelson whispered back, "You and I still have a chance of getting out alive, but...".

"I don't care!", Sonya interrupted him with more force in her voice, "We're not leaving anybody behind! If you want to go ahead, that's fine, but you'll have to do it without me since I'm staying here".

Ellison lifted his head and stared at the pair, disliking the fact that they were talking about him and he wasn't being asked to contribute to the conversation. He saw Sonya swearing to herself under her breath in an annoyed fashion as she then stared partly towards the sky. Ellison opened his mouth to talk, but heard no words. He gasped for several seconds before he uttered a fraction of a phrase.

"Lieutenant", he looked at his superior officer as she turned her face to return his glance when she realized he had heard everything, "I...".

He never got to finish because he passed out again. He remembered thinking to himself that his lieutenant was as attractive on the inside as she was on the outside, but he was currently in an inanimate state. The kombatant, on the other hand, turned away from him and exchanged an irritated glance with Nelson.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The sun eventually descended in the sky as the kombatant spent several uneasy hours gripping the handle of the pistol and paying attention to her surroundings. She didn't speak to Nelson about that incident afterwards, or about any other, since he didn't say anything else. The silence was enervating her as time went by and her grip on the Glock tightened with every passing minute. Ellison finally woke up again during the last hour of the afternoon before the evening rolled in. She turned to him and stood up as she realized her right knuckles had turned as white as snow after all the pressure she had used to grip the weapon. Holstering the pistol, Sonya squatted next to him and brought her face closer to his as her thighs protested the new movement.

"Can you travel?", she simply asked.

Ellison's eyes needed several moments before they adjusted to the brightness of the daylight.

"Yeah, yeah", he nodded, not wanting to remain lying down and helpless, "And you can take the jacket off".

"Fine, you try to help and this is what you get?", she gave a slim smile as she gripped the jacket with her left hand and placed her right forearm under his neck.

He needed to rely on her more than he would've liked as he struggled to stand back on his feet. With one of his arms wrapped around her shoulders and one of her arms supporting his upper back, he knew he couldn't carry a rifle and walk at the same time. It was then that he saw Nelson carrying his rifle while the other man was eager to move away.

"Not that the scenery isn't great, but we have to leave", the civilian reminded them from ten yards away as he pointed down at the corpse of the mutant who had attacked Ellison, "We can't expect to stay in one area all this time and not get spotted by one of those things".

"Absolutely", she agreed as she locked eyes with Ellison, nonverbally asking him if he could manage without her support.

He nodded and she slowly withdrew her arm from his upper back as he retracted his own arm from her shoulders. He was thankful when he found he could walk by himself, though the fact that several areas on his body hurt was something that he had to ignore at the time. Equally glad to see the soldier on his feet, the kombatant swiftly slipped her jacket on while still being watchful about the surroundings. Before they were able to proceed forward, though, Ellison's eyes widened as his eyes caught the sight of a handful of more mutants rushing at them and screaming out a warcry. Sonya was quick to withdraw the holstered Glock and open fire, dropping a mutant with every shot which exited the weapon. Nelson pointed in the general direction of the aggressors and fired also, though he missed his targets. Seeing the first mutant who was about to impact into Nelson with his blades lifted, Sonya shifted away from the invaders who were headed for her and aimed for that particular one. She fired twice and two rounds exploded into that mutant's chest, stopping him while he was just one step away from impaling Nelson. As she turned her attention back in front of her, she spotted another mutant who was heading straight for her and who was only three steps away. Not having enough time to twist the arm which held the pistol and take a good aim, the kombatant twisted her body to the right and raised her left leg in the process. The bottom of her left foot impacted into the mutant's stomach and stopped him cold in his tracks, giving her enough time to level the handgun and press it into his chest before pulling the trigger once. As that invader dropped to the ground with a moan, Sonya heard a human scream and once again turned her face back towards Nelson's direction. She didn't have time to react as she saw him closely surrounded by five mutants before an explosion of blood emanated from that area. Her heart sank as she knew she couldn't do anything for him, so she turned to address Ellison since the soldier was still alive.

"RUN, ELLISON", she yelled at him, "THAT'S AN ORDER".

Many thoughts raced through Ellison's mind as he heard her and saw more mutants rushing for the both of them. On the one hand, he did not want to abandon her and have to live with a guilty conscious later because he might've been able to save her if he stayed and fought. On the other hand, he knew that if he stayed while in his physical condition, he might do more harm than good because she'd have to worry about his safety as well as her own and be slowed down by it. With only an instant to make up his mind, the soldier decided to follow orders and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, hoping the entire time that he wasn't making a mistake.

Sonya, in the meanwhile, holstered the Glock and somersaulted backwards as eight remaining mutants were charging towards her. She put a comfortable distance between herself and them within about ten seconds before she stopped and landed on her feet. With the invaders rushing forward from twenty yards away, she had more than enough time to withdraw the pistol and lay forth a wall of ammunition against them. The mutants screamed and ran ahead, thinking they could get to their target before they were hit, but they were mistaken. All eight mutants were shot as she emptied the handgun and still kept squeezing the trigger long after she was hearing the clicks of an empty clip. The last mutant hit had already dropped dead about five yards away from her by the time she finally stopped pulling on the trigger.

Her heart was racing and her hands shook as she ejected the empty clip out of the Glock and inserted a fresh one from her shoulder holster into it. Then, turning around, she ran towards the direction where she had seen Ellison retreating, hoping she could catch up to him and they wouldn't be separated. With the screams from the mutants having suddenly quieted, she heard her footsteps impacting against the street. Sonya was running for less than a minute when she spotted him at the front entrance of an apartment building. Ellison signaled her with his arm and she eagerly followed him through the main entrance and into an empty hallway.

"I think it's safe here", the soldier advised once she was inside the darkened hallway with him.

He abruptly rested his back against the wall before slipping down towards the floor in a seated position. The trauma to his torso and the loss of blood still forbade any vigorous amount of energy to be used by the soldier as he saw Sonya shakily taking a seat on the concrete floorboards also. She looked in almost as bad a shape as him while she crossed her legs while resting her back against the wall across the short hallway from him.

"Nelson didn't make it?", he asked, still trying to catch his breath.

She only shook her head, wondering to herself whether she should've checked on his condition before running away from the scene. Though mutants were never known to leave behind survivors once they ganged up on victims, she still thought it had been wrong to simply assume that Nelson was killed. They both remained seated on the floor for several more minutes without saying a word or making eye contact as the eerie silence from outside the building indicated nothing to them. Ellison finally decided to break the silence as he thought to himself that talking might relax them both, especially her since she still firmly gripped the pistol.

"Something on your mind?", the soldier asked as he stared at the kombatant.

Sonya didn't return his glance since her head was tilted upward and she was looking at the dark ceiling as the back of her head rested against the wall behind her.

"Nah", she shook her head slightly without looking down, "Just wondering how all our guys are doing, if they're all OK. We barely ended up identifying all the dead from Motaro's invasion and now another loser started messing with us".

Ellison sighed, indicating he shared her concern about the well-being of their comrades. The kombatant's eyes remained fixed on the ceiling as she continued talking even though she hadn't originally expected to.

"I mean, you'd think Kahn's realm was enough for him to...", she was interrupted by Ellison as the soldier suddenly lifted his right palm towards her as a sign to be quiet.

"Sssshhhh", he whispered, looking towards the main entrance of the building, "You hear that?".

"Hear what?", Sonya leveled her head and followed his stare towards the door also.

"It... It sounded like...", the soldier stopped, "Like someone crying".

They both involuntarily held their breath as they listened more carefully. Sure enough, the kombatant heard what he was referring to as the sobs of what sounded like a small child came from outside.

"It's a kid!", she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet with the Glock at the ready.

She didn't have to ask him to stand up, he was already on his feet as she took her first step towards the door with the pistol held at the ready in front of her face. Once standing in the doorway, she warily scanned the seemingly deserted street outside with the sight of the firearm before she realized that the sound was coming from behind a parked car. With Ellison following and wishing he had a weapon of his own, Sonya approached the vehicle from the opposite end as she still kept the muzzle of the firearm aimed towards it. She soon reached the hood and twisted around to face the side which was invisible to her. The kombatant bent her elbow and quickly aimed the weapon towards the sky as she saw a boy who couldn't have been more than eight years old crouching behind the car. The child seemed terrified of both of them as he sobbed and tears ran down his cheeks.

"Don't be afraid", the kombatant holstered the weapon to indicate she wasn't going to hurt him, "You're safe".

The child seemed unconvinced and stepped backwards and away from her.

"Don't go, don't go!", Sonya held out her right hand, knowing he didn't have a chance of surviving if he ran into a mutant, "Stay with us, we're just like you".

The boy stopped moving backwards and stared into her eyes, still unsure whether she could be trusted.

"Do you know where your parents are?", she asked him by using the softest tone of voice she could come up with under the present circumstances.

"I don't know", his voice shook as he answered.

"OK", Sonya replied as she pointed behind her towards Ellison, "My friend here and I are gonna make sure you remain safe until you find 'em. You'll be safe with us".

Before the boy could've answered, the footsteps of a small army of mutants was heard down the street. Both Sonya and Ellison froze momentarily as they spotted approximately fifty mutants appearing at the end of the street. Once seeing the three humans, the large number of invaders roared, held up their blades and charged towards them. Even with a fresh clip in the Glock, the two soldiers would've been suicidal if they challenged so many adversaries at once.

"This way!", Ellison pointed behind him towards the direction opposite from where the mutants were coming.

Sonya lunged forward and picked the boy up in her arms as the child cried louder before she twisted around and bolted after Ellison. The soldier ran first while making sure the kombatant could keep up as she dashed after him from a few feet away. Neither one of them bothered looking behind them, since they knew doing so would only take valuable time, but they could hear the loud footsteps as the mutants could at least run as fast as the natives. Ellison suddenly turned to the right, hoping a smaller street would make it harder for their pursuers to give chase. The kombatant ran after him, hoping they weren't worsening their situation. Both soldiers stopped cold in their tracks as they saw the end of an alley about thirty yards ahead which was blocked off by a twenty-foot high wall. The invaders were only seconds away now, so it was out of the question to turn around and head back towards the street.

"There's an opening at the end of the path!", Ellison pointed ahead, "We might be able to go through it!".

Knowing they had no other choice, the soldiers ran towards it. Both their hearts were racing and Sonya wished very much that the kid she held on to would quiet down as they reached the end of the alleyway. It was only then that they realized the opening which Ellison had spotted in the wall was at least fifteen feet high in the air. Neither soldier had noticed that fact since they were anxious at the moment they ran into the alley. As the fifty mutants reached the entrance of the alleyway and saw that the human targets were trapped, they slowed down to a walk towards them. Sonya turned to Ellison as she set the child on the ground. She knew that, with her help, the wounded soldier would be able to reach the opening above and could then pull her up, but the boy would have to be left behind since he could'nt possibly jump very high.

"If I give you a push, you might be able to reach it", she pointed up as the mutants came ever closer, "You could get to safety".

"Can you jump high enough once I'm there?", Ellison spoke what he had been thinking, indicating the same idea was in both their minds.

"Me, yeah, but not him. He can't jump that high", Sonya paused as she pointed at the child who was still sobbing.

Both soldiers locked eyes as she shook her head.

"I can't leave him behind", she finally added as the mutants were slowly approaching from twenty yards away.

"It's suicide", Ellison blurted out, "Suicide for the sole purpose of postponing the inevitable for him by a matter of a few minutes".

"No, for the purpose of me dying with a clean conscience", she corrected.

"Then I ain't leaving either", he replied.

Sonya understood his reasons and didn't object. With the menacing invaders less than fifteen steps away, the kombatant bent her right arm at a ninety degree angle. Sonya then offered the right arm ahead of her chest so that her right hand was directly several inches in front of her face. Ellison bent his own right arm in a similar fashion and gripped her right hand with his own. She reached forward, past their two hands, and kissed him on the cheek before they separated, him in a fighting stance and her withdrawing the holstered pistol. As the legion of mutants came closer, looking forward to a certain victory, the child next to the two soldiers suddenly stopped crying, although neither Sonya nor Ellison noticed. Then, in a voice much thicker than before, the boy spoke.

"Stop!", he addressed the mutants in front of him and the invaders froze where they stood.

Sonya's head instinctively snapped back since she recognized the new voice. She turned her face down towards the child as her Glock was still aimed at the group of approaching mutants. Before she could say anything, the child grinned as he slowly grew in height.

"What the...?", Ellison couldn't believe his eyes as the child's height kept increasing.

The boy finally stopped expanding in size when he became as tall as Sonya and his face changed until she found herself staring at Shang Tsung. The sorcerer turned his attention towards the mutants and spoke again, carrying the influence of his emperor in his words.

"Leave", Shang Tsung simply ordered before the mutants quietly turned around and left the alley.

Seeing the result of his command, the sorcerer proudly turned back to Sonya.

"You!", the kombatant snapped at him, "It was you all along? Do I need a restraining order to keep you from bothering me nowadays?".

"Who the hell is he?", Ellison wondered out loud as he looked at his lieutenant, "Or maybe I should say what is he?".

"I have been attempting to test your limits, to see when you would be willing to sacrifice someone else to save yourself", the sorcerer flatly stated with a confident grin on his face, "I am sorry to say you have disappointed me so far".

"Nelson! That was you!", Sonya's eyes widened, "You were Nelson!".

"Precisely", Shang Tsung bowed as the grin was erased off his face and he showed no emotions whatsoever.

"Don't you have anything better to do with your time?", the kombatant asked with an annoyed tone of voice as she holstered the weapon.

"Not when it comes to testing the personality of my future queen", the sorcerer calmly replied.

"I am not your queen!", she snapped, "And I won't be, ever! Get that through your thick head!".

"Yes, you will", the sorcerer's confident smile returned, "You will join our side sooner or later. I have not found it yet, but you do have a side that can be corrupted. No one is pure, that I am sure of".

"This was just a test?", she barked next.

"Yes", he slightly bowed his head again in response, "You showed much potential from the method you used to slay the mutant who speared your friend, but I am afraid you still failed the test by refusing to abandon him when he was slowing us down".

"I'll join Scott and Danny before I join you or Kahn, you can tell your boss that for me", she took the first step away from him and indicated Ellison to follow, "And warn him to be careful of letting you out all by yourself again. There are leash laws in this city for dogs, after all".

Shang Tsung laughed lightly, unaffected by what he perceived as a poor insult.

"You will be treated much better than the rest of these mortals once we overtake the Earth realm", the sorcerer continued when he stopped laughing, "It was my condition to lord Kahn that he agreed to when it was time to make Motaro his second-in-command instead of me. I stated - 'my lord, there are over five billion mortals in that realm, and you can have all of them except for one. The entire realm, all of its inhabitants and resources are at your disposal, but the blonde is mine'".

The sorcerer laughed again at his own words as Sonya stopped walking away and turned to face him again, feeling more annoyed than ever. Shang Tsung placed his right palm over his heart as he addressed her again with a smile.

"It is going to be a pleasure taming you, my most beloved one", he stated.

"Taming me", the kombatant repeated, "What am I, a housepet? You might as well keep fantasizing because that's all it's ever gonna be, just a fantasy. I'm too strong, too talented. I can't be corrupted and I can't be scared. The sooner you come down to earth, the sooner you'll realize it".

"Is that so?", Shang Tsung asked.

The sorcerer shapeshifted into Goro and spoke in Goro's voice as Ellison stared at the spectacle with his eyes and mouth open. Pseudo-Goro addressed the kombatant at once as she looked up into his eyes with an angry expression.

"That is not what I recall seeing when the Prince of Shokan paid you and the others a visit as a specter", the four-armed figure said.

Pseudo-Goro then shrank into a human's size and Shang Tsung shapeshifted into Sonya's exact twin. The kombatant pressed her teeth together as she was staring into the eyes of her double image. Pseudo-Sonya was dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved cotton blouse as the sorcerer spoke in her voice.

"What's going on with me?", Pseudo-Sonya complained, "I can't believe what I did when Johnny was here. I was so scared when he decided to fight that freak!".

Pseudo-Sonya paused briefly and then resumed, smiling and staring into Sonya's face with a pair of bright eyes.

"Sooooooo scaaaaaaaared", Pseudo-Sonya repeated before the sorcerer returned to his usual form.

Shang Tsung was still smiling, although Sonya wasn't since she clearly remembered the time when she had that conversation with Scott after her nightmare about Goro.

"So you've sunk down to eavesdropping on people's private dialogue now?", she shot back, trying hard to resist the temptation of attacking the sorcerer in a fit of anger.

Before Shang Tsung replied, she turned away from him and walked towards the entrance of the alleyway.

"Come on, Ellison, we're outta here", she indicated before the soldier eagerly followed.

They were out of the alley and in the street within moments since she had been walking exceptionally fast. Ellison had to jog for a few instants to keep up with her.

"So where're we going?", the private questioned, noticing she was upset.

"Frontclane Road", she flatly stated, "This bullshit is going to end once and for all and I'm gonna see to it".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Frontclane Road looked no different as Sonya and Ellison scanned it for any unusual activity. They had been searching for the last twenty minutes without seeing anything unusual when the first thoughts of doubt entered their mind. The private stared blankly at his lieutenant's face, indicating he felt that the search was a waste of time.

"Tell me again how you learned of this place", Ellison sighed in frustration.

"The Shokanite told me about it", Sonya justified her actions.

"And you believed her", he added.

"She was on our side", she reminded him.

"Yeah, but couldn't she have been mist...", he was interrupted as a red flash of light appeared only yards away from them.

The light expanded until it became a portal large enough to transport even the largest Shokanite or Centaur through. A human figure emerged from it as Sonya was quick to level the pistol towards him. Shao Kahn's human servant was carrying a spear with him as both soldiers wondered how much power he thought he had because of it. The kombatant didn't want to take any chances, though, as she approached him and spoke in a voice loud enough to be heard by her entire surroundings.

"Put it down, tough guy", she ordered, "I won't warn you again".

Instead of obeying, Kahn's servant lifted the spear so its tip pointed towards Ellison. He was still at least ten steps away from Sonya and another twenty steps from Ellison, so neither soldier suspected what he was about to do. Reacting to the servant's thoughts, a yellow bolt of electricity shot out of the spear and hit Ellison in the chest. The soldier instantly fell on his back without a sound as the servant then turned the spear to aim the tip towards the kombatant. Gasping at the ability the spear seemed to have, Sonya pulled on the trigger as her pistol was still aimed at Kahn's servant. A round exploded in the man's head and he was thrown backwards as he dropped his spear before he landed dead on his back.

The lieutenant's first reaction was to rush back to where Ellison was lying to check for his vital signs. She had no idea what the effects of the seemingly magical spear were, so she didn't know what to expect from the soldier. Before she was able to reach him, though, she heard more noise from the direction of the portal. Over twenty more human servants who were pledged to emperor Kahn stepped through it and entered the Earth realm within moments of each other. The kombatant sighed since she had not been expecting any more visitors as the new adversaries walked over the body of the first servant and aimed their own spears at her. She lifted the Glock ahead of her face with both hands, knowing no one was fast enough to take down twenty opponents before being hit. She was right because several servants fired their spears at once and a number of yellow bolts shot into the pistol she held. Sonya screamed as her hands received burn marks and the destroyed firearm flew out of her grasp.

Whatever remained of the Glock landed on the ground about five yards away. The twenty humans from Kahn's realm simply dropped the spears and rushed forward, apparently eager to subdue her themselves. As she lifted her eyes off her burned hands, she realized she was standing in the middle of a rough circle, surrounded by twenty unfriendly men. Sonya's first reaction was to vertically raise her forearms in front of her chest, indicating she surrendered since she knew she had no chance of escaping alive if she fought back. Unfortunately, she realized that Kahn's servants were not interested in seeing her surrender. Even though they had apparently wanted her alive, or they would've opened fire with their spears, they still wanted a fight.

"Oh, great", she whispered as she saw all twenty opponents charging towards her at once.

The first servant she saw received a high front kick to his chin before she twisted to her right and landed a roundhouse punch against the face of a second opponent. That was all she managed because she then felt a sharp blow into the back of her head which knocked her down. The servants closed in, kicking her at will and enjoying it, as she knew she was beaten and started feeling the overwhelming numbness which precedes a state of unconsciousness. It was only a few seconds afterwards that she only saw black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sonya opened her eyes halfway as she felt the uneven and rough ground bruising her bare stomach. The majority of the skin had already been torn from her midsection which wasn't covered by the halter. She looked up as she felt herself being dragged forward and saw both her arms extended upward while she lay flat on her stomach. Two of Kahn's servants had gripped each of her wrists and she was being pulled towards a waiting prison cell. The servants obviously thought she was still unconscious as they were dragging her towards the destination, so the kombatant wondered if she could the situation to her advantage. Though she would've tried to pull away from them at any other time, she could feel that her body was extremely weakened after the beating which had knocked her out. Before she knew it, she was thrown into the large cell and left there as the two servants closed the steel door behind her and locked it. She placed her two palms on the ground as she coughed and tried to rise on her hands and knees.

Cursing herself for barely having enough energy to stand, Sonya needed several instants before she shakily rose on her feet. Looking down, she saw that she was right; the skin had been scraped from her stomach while she was being dragged to the cell. She knew the light wound would heal within days, though, and had bigger problems to worry about at the present time. The first concern was private Ellison's condition, she wondered to herself if he was still alive. The second was the debilitating pain which crippled her lower back, face and arms. Before she was even able to examine the cell she was held in, someone opened the door from outside and stepped towards her. It was one of Kahn's human servants as he wore a satisfied grin on his face while coming inside.

"You're already awake", he began, "I'm impressed. I guess you're very proud of yourself".

"Go fuck yourself", she replied in a tired tone, still trying to inhale completely.

"Such language!", the servant sarcastically addressed another man who was behind him, "Where do these Earth dwellers learn it?".

He turned his attention back to her as he resumed talking.

"It's just too bad we were required to bring you back alive", he grinned, "Because it would've been a pleasure to erase that stuck up attitude of yours".

"Sorry to disappoint you", Sonya countered, "I won't be able to sleep tonight because of it".

Instead of answering with words, the angry servant turned his right hand into a fist and delivered a right jab into her chin, snapping her head back before she staggered backwards. The kombatant stopped when her back crashed into the wall of the prison cell. She gathered her concentration as she saw the same servant approaching her with five more men following him.

"Fuck the orders", he cracked his knuckles, "Just imagine all the fun we can have with her. Tsung doesn't have to know, we'll just tell him she resisted and gave us no choice".

That was all he got to say because the kombatant twisted to her left and sent her right leg sailing downward. The bottom of her right foot crashed into his left knee and broke his leg by bending it in the direction opposite its natural angle. The servant yelled out in pain as he fell on the floor and instinctively grabbed his broken knee. The man behind him, however, was quick as he withdrew a large stone hammer. Sonya's eyes widened as she saw the hammer being swung horizontally towards her face. The heavy stone edge of the hammer crashed into the left side of her face and she heard an explosion in her mind as she twisted around under the impact and landed on her stomach. She lifted her head and looked up in time to see the man lifting the hammer over his own head with both hands as he was ready to swing it down towards her face. A second blow might've killed her and she didn't have the space to get out of the way or the energy to leg sweep him. As the hammer was about to be swung towards her head, though, the kombatant heard an enraged scream from the open cell door.

"You were only to use as much force as was absolutely necessary!", the new person in the cell barked at the servants.

Sonya saw Motaro galloping inside and heading for the servant who had assaulted her with the hammer. Her mouth dropped open as the Centaur easily grabbed both of the servant's wrists with his left hand. Motaro lifted the screaming man with the hammer two feet into the air before tossing him aside. The servant crashed into the opposite cell wall about twenty feet away, dropped on the ground and didn't try to get back up, though he was still conscious. The Centaur then bent down and lifted the servant with the broken knee vertically into the air before slamming his head into the ceiling. The man screamed as Motaro released him and he fell several feet before landing on the floor on his broken leg.

Motaro then turned into Goro as the four remaining servants screamed and panicked. The giant Shokanite gripped each servant by the throat, one in each hand, before lifting all four into the air. He then tossed one person after another outside of the cell. All four servants flew out of the open doorway and landed on top of each other outside. Goro turned to the servant with the broken leg and the servant who had previously withdrawn the hammer.

"Leave!", the Shokanite ordered.

The servant who had assaulted her with the hammer staggered towards the other one and helped him to his feet without saying another word. The man with the broken leg wrapped his left arm around the first servant's shoulders before they limped out of the cell. Seeing the result, Goro shrank until Shang Tsung stood there alone. The sorcerer bent down and helped Sonya up to her feet as he examined her injuries. A giant black mark covered most of the left side of her face and her left eye was forced shut as a result of the blow by the hammer. Once on her feet, the kombatant was quick to pull away from him and put as much distance as possible between them.

"I am sorry about this", Shang Tsung started, "They were supposed to exercise more self-control than...".

"SHUT UP!", she screamed, pointing towards the open doorway, "GET THE HELL OUT!".

She saw him enough to recognize who it was, though her vision was now blurred because of her obliterated left eye. Seeing her reaction, the sorcerer sighed and proceeded out of the cell as she became slightly calmer.

"I do not know how you obtained the scrolls on the secrets of the natural forces, but you can forget about using that knowledge against the emperor", Shang Tsung told her as he was leaving the cell, "The scrolls have been confiscated along with your other possessions and no one else will be reading them. All I need to know for now is that your are safe and relatively unharmed".

"A torturer with principles, I'm impressed", she sarcastically said after him.

The sorcerer stopped and turned towards her as she sat down on the floor with her back to the wall.

"I just saved your life", Shang Tsung pointed at her with an annoyed expression on his face, "The least you could do is be polite".

The kombatant didn't feel like being polite as she looked up at him, but she had to admit to herself that the sorcerer wasn't lying when he claimed that he saved her life. Instead of replying with more sarcasm, she remained silent as he walked back out.

"One thing I can't figure", she broke the silence when he had reached the doorway.

Shang Tsung stopped and turned around again before stepping back into the cell.

"Why are you doing this?", she asked, looking up into his face, "I mean, I'll be dead and buried in half a century at most. You're a thousand years old. I can't be with you much. Aren't there any thousand-year old women from where you come from that you can chase?".

The sorcerer only returned her stare without answering.

"We're from opposite sides", she added, "Reason says that we'll hate each other's guts".

"Do you always do what reason demands?", Shang Tsung asked her in return.

She didn't answer him, knowing the answer was a negative one.

"Either way, I was sorry to hear about the death of your friend Scott", the sorcerer changed the subject.

"Why?", she questioned, "You wanted him for a sparring partner?".

"Yes", Shang Tsung flatly said as he turned back around.

"I guess I should be flattered, huh?", the kombatant asked with sarcasm to his back.

"Yes, you should", the sorcerer told her as he headed back outside, "And I think you are. But you are too proud to admit it".

"Your boss is gonna fail", she called after him, "Either we beat him or we'll die trying, even if I have to fight you myself in the process".

The sorcerer gripped the edge of the cell door to close it after he was outside.

"I'm never gonna be yours, Shang", she added as she saw the door closing behind him.

"Yes, I know", he replied as he left the cell, "But do not say that I never did anything for you".

Sonya wanted to thank him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it as he vanished behind the closed door.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I am encountering an obstacle", Kitana sounded angry with her ineffectiveness as she, Johnny, Liu and Smoke stood within the portal she had brought forth.

Bright, silent flashes surrounded the fighters as they eagerly waited for their chance to go through.

"He must have created another hurdle for any who wished to enter his realm using a portal", the princess reasoned out loud.

"It's OK", the actor reassured, "Just take your time".

Smoke was quiet as usual since he only spoke when spoken to first. Liu, on the other hand, was not watching the princess as she tried to provide the team an exit from inside the portal. The monk's attention was fixed straight ahead, but no one else had noticed the blank expression on his face. Liu didn't know what was going on because he was having a vision.

The monk saw himself standing on a flat ground as mountains covered the scenery behind him. A few yards ahead, he could see Shao Kahn as the emperor stood tall and proud. Liu felt the desire to attack, but, for an unknown reason, he did not rush towards his larger opponent. Instead, the kombatant lifted his right arm in a vertical position and then aimed it towards Kahn. Within an instant, a fireball emerged from the air in front of his right hand and was hurled towards the emperor. Kahn was struck in the chest by the projectile before he staggered backwards. Reacting with controlled anger, Liu threw a second fireball towards his enemy, with the same result. Even though the monk had no idea how he was able to launch the apparently magical projectiles, he felt confident with his skill. As he was ready to hurl a third fireball, Liu's eyes popped open.

The monk's face snapped back as he was shaken awake. His eyes caught the sight of Johnny as the actor had gripped the monk's shoulders and was shaking him while the Outworld princess and the cyborg watched. Finding himself back inside the portal, Liu remembered where he was once he saw the worried look in Kitana's eyes.

"Say something!", Johnny exclaimed, still shaking him.

"You can stop that now", Liu advised.

Realizing his fellow kombatant had been brought out of his frozen status, the actor ceased shaking him and released the grip on his shoulders.

"We thought we had lost you for a sec, Liu", Johnny told him.

"How long was I unresponsive?", the monk asked, curious.

"About ten minutes now", Kitana replied, "What happened?".

"I...", Liu tried to recall, "I was having a vision. I saw myself. Myself and Kahn, fighting".

"And?", Johnny waited.

"And that was all", the monk said as he rubbed his forehead, "I do not understand its meaning".

"Are you worried about this?", Kitana whispered, almost as if anxiety was something to be ashamed of.

The princess was carefull about her tone of voice because she knew Liu had spent the majority of his life trying to control his emotions. She thought to herself that it might've been unkind to hint that he had failed in that mission.

"Yes", Liu did not indicate any sign of being insulted, "More for my realm than for myself".

"Well, don't worry about it", Johnny shrugged, realizing that his advice couldn't be followed because he wasn't able to follow it himself.

"What if I cannot defeat him?", the monk whispered to himself, though the other fighters heard.

The kombatants only locked eyes, knowing what must be done. The Earth realm had to be protected from Kahn's evil at all cost.

"You humans should not be afraid", Smoke finally spoke, "Do you not know that good always triumphs over evil?".

The cyborg's seeminly innocent comment prompted Johnny to laugh out loud for a moment as he turned to the android.

"Huh?", the actor addressed Smoke with a wide smile on his face, "I guess you really didn't have a lot of human contact in your lifetime".

Liu just wished he could understand the meaning of his vision.

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Sonya was definitely glad to see Ellison alive as the private was seated on the bare floor of the large holding cell among over a dozen other human prisoners. The blast he was previously struck with was apparently manipulated to only stun the target instead of killing it. The kombatant was unceremoniously shoved through the doorway and into the new cell herself as two guards stood behind her without closing the door. Both servants pointed the tip of their spear at her lower back, ignoring the other prisoners who were around since they did not view them as a threat. Turning her face around, she wondered what they were waiting for as she eyed one of the guards. She was thankful when she didn't have long to think about it because her answer soon arrived.

Shao Kahn's heavy footsteps were heard on the stone floor only moments before the seven-foot tall emperor appeared at the doorway behind his two servants. Both men instantly pointed their spear towards the ceiling and moved aside, letting the emperor approach the prisoners. Though she couldn't see his facial expression because of his steel mask, Sonya guessed that he must've been feeling proud as he surveyed the people in the cell.

"Welcome to my castle, kombatant", Kahn addressed her first, pretending the other prisoners didn't even exist.

"I wish I could say it was nice to be here, but I'd be lying", she kept a calm composure as she stared up into his face.

"After I destroy the rest of your so-called warrior class, your realm will fall", the emperor replied with glee in his voice as he folded his massive arms, "You were only spared because my sorcerer preferred to have you alive. Far be it for me to understand his motives, since he is obviously lowering his standards, but I agreed nonetheless. I like to keep my servants happy".

"Really?", Sonya asked with apparent sarcasm, "The Shokanites don't think so".

The emperor chuckled at her response.

"Oh yes, the Shokanites", Kahn continued, "Such hard workers. They were the ones who transported Shang Tsung's piked-floored pit over from his island to my castle after my sorcerer's embarrassing defeat in the tenth tournament. And they did it one stone block at a time. Such hard workers".

The emperor pointed his right index finger towards the only barred window of the cell.

"You can see it even from here", he sounded proud, "I liked that pit so much that I had my servants take it apart one stone at a time and the Shokanites transfer it here. They proved to be of good use back then. It _is_ a pity now for them".

"Sure is", the kombatant said with a cold face.

"Well, enough of this delightful conversation", the emperor placed his palms together as he stepped backwards, "Do look outside the window every once in a while, my entertainment is about to begin. Who knows? You might enjoy it as well. Though I must admit some of these prisoners are such terrible fighters that I am forced to put them in two at a time against my performer".

"Entertainment? Performer?", she asked, feeling confused.

"Until later", Kahn turned around and walked out of the cell.

The two armed guards followed him outside and bolted the door from their side. With nothing left to do, Sonya turned back and proceeded towards Ellison as the soldier shakily stood up.

"How are you?", was her first question.

"OK, I guess", he rubbed the back of his head, "That thing they did knocked me out pretty good. I just woke up a little while ago with a damn headache".

Before she was able to reply, a loud horn was heard from outside. Wondering, both soldiers looked out the window even though the other prisoners did not bother to. Sonya could tell the others were not curious about the occurrences outside since they already knew the reason for the horn. But since she did not, she felt compelled to satisfy her curiosity. The first thing she saw was a bridge which was about a yard wide as it hung about fifty feet over the castle ground with the help of several stone columns. The kombatant heard herself gasping as she next spotted dozens of spikes which covered the ground below the bridge. Each spike was about three inches in diameter and approximately three feet long. Even the columns which supported the bridge were fitted with several spikes which protruded out of them at a 45 degree angle, obviously to ensure that no one who fell off the bridge could embrace a column and survive. Sonya eyed Ellison, asking herself what was planned to take place next, when she spotted a movement at the edge of the bridge. A confident ninja dressed in a green outfit stepped towards the middle of the bridge, patiently waiting for his adversary.

"The lord Kahn's servant Reptile will now accept the challenge of any volunteers for the emperor's enjoyment", an announcer was heard yelling from the base of the bridge.

As both soldiers warily watched, a man, who appeared to be a prisoner much like the people who they shared the cell with, was pushed towards the green ninja from the base of the bridge. Several guards pointed their spear at his back, warning him that he would be shot if he turned away from the ninja. Trying hard not to shiver, the prisoner walked towards the middle of the bridge also. It was then that the ninja grabbed his own chin and pulled upwards, revealing a lizard-like head underneath the human disguise. Sonya and Ellison gasped at the same time as the prisoner who was on the bridge with Reptile screamed out of fear.

Reptile didn't give the man a chance to concentrate. The ninja with a human body but a green lizard's head instantly executed a flying kick towards the prisoner. The bottom of his right foot slammed into the man's chest and knocked that one hard on his back. Reptile landed on his feet while his adversary gasped with pain and remained lying on the bridge, unable to stand. The ninja bent down and gripped his overmatched opponent's throat with his left hand before pulling the prisoner up to a standing position. The man was quickly yanked up to his feet as Reptile then turned his own right hand into a fist.

The prisoner's vision then blurred as the ninja began beating him mercilessly with the right fist while the left grip remained on the man's throat. The adversary's head snapped towards all sides as blood erupted from his mouth and nose. Reptile did not stop punching him in the face until it was made certain that the man had a broken jaw as well as a fractured skull. The ninja then finally released his left grip on the prisoner's throat and the man lifelessly fell on the bridge. Wanting to ensure his victory, Kahn's entertainer lifted his right leg into the air by bending the right knee and then brought it down on the immobile man's throat, breaking it with ease.

"Neeeext!", Reptile hissed as he turned his attention towards the base of the bridge.

A second prisoner was shoved towards him. This man actually tried to swing towards the ninja's lizard-like face, but had no success since he had never trained before. Reptile rushed towards him, dodged his attempted punch, and kneed the man in the stomach. As the prisoner bent down, pressing his forearm into his midsection and gasping for breath, the ninja gripped the back of his neck and pulled him back up to a vertical position. Reptile headbutted him, breaking his nose and snapping his head backwards. The prisoner was already out of energy after the second blow and couldn't continue fighting, but the ninja didn't care. Still retaining his grasp on the back of the man's neck, Reptile stared into the prisoner's eyes before spitting out of his mouth. A shot of acid exited the ninja's lips and struck the man in the face as the prisoner screamed and tried to break away from him. Reptile retained his grip on the man, though, and forced that one to remain standing as he watched the prisoner's flesh boiling. The man's face melted before the ninja let go of his neck and the prisoner instinctively staggered backwards, still screaming from the pain and clutching at what used to be his face.

Reptile calmly walked up to the man and sent a smooth front kick into his stomach, sending him staggering to the side. Sonya and Ellison watched from their cell as the prisoner screamed louder and was hurled over the side of the narrow bridge. The man's yell followed him down before he landed on the ground below and was impaled through the chest and the left thigh. He convulsed once as his screams were transformed to a short, desperate gasp before he stopped moving completely. On top of the bridge, Reptile raised his arms towards the sky in victory as Shao Kahn's servants and monks cheered below. Without having even broken a sweat, the ninja then bent down and gripped the neck of the first prisoner he had killed. Lifting the man's upper body off the bridge, Reptile's tongue shot out of his mouth and wrapped around the corpse's head. The ninja let go of the prisoner's neck and pulled his own head backwards, snapping the corpse's head off its shoulders. Ellison groaned as he and Sonya then watched Reptile swallowing the first man's head and enjoying it. Ellison pulled away from the window first as he rested his right palm on his stomach.

"I swear I will never eat meat again if I get out of here", the soldier told his lieutenant.

Instead of hearing her reply, he detected someone crying in the cell. He and Sonya turned simultaneously towards the source of the noise and saw a man about Ellison's age as that one sat in the corner of the cell and sobbed alone.

"What's the problem?", the kombatant was the first to ask.

"He is next", one of the man's fellow prisoners answered with a sad face, "He is scheduled to fight the ninja in one hour as part of the emperor's feast. The guards are coming to take him over the pit".

The kombatant remained quiet as she surveyed Reptile's next adversary. The man was about her height but seemed to weigh less than she did, probably from the malnutrition the emperor had forced on his prisoners. Sending him against the ninja was a sure death sentence and everyone in the cell knew it. Although she didn't see it, Ellison was watching her face as she debated her options in her mind. She finally noticed his stare after he walked closer and whispered only loud enough for her to hear.

"I know that look", the soldier murmured quietly, "What are you thinking?".

He was actually afraid to hear the answer, but knew he had to. Instead of replying as expected, Sonya removed the yellow jacket she wore over her green outfit and handed it to him.

"Hang on to that", she whispered back with a smile, "I'll be back for it after I send the lizard there over the edge".

"What?", his reaction was understandable.

"He's aggressive, and brutally efficient", she pointed out, referring to Reptile, "But he's also overconfident, and that'll be his downfall. So relax, I can take him. Besides, I really wanna see how proud and confident he appears when he's lying on his back with a severed spine while choking on his own blood and vomit".

"This is hardly a fair fight", the soldier warned, "He's in peak condition and you're a mess".

"Well, so are you", the kombatant flatly replied with a smile.

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"My lord, I must protest!", Shang Tsung exclaimed as he saw her calmly climbing the stairs towards the base of the bridge, "She cannot take the prisoner's place against Reptile!".

"It _is_ a fair deal", the emperor dismissed the sorcerer as he kept his attention set on the kombatant who had offered to fight his ninja, "Reptile will have to do his best to defeat her".

Shao Kahn finally thought to himself that he would get a battle worth watching instead of the quick slaughters that Reptile has been able to provide for him ever since the ninja had been resurrected. Shang Tsung, on the other hand, cursed under his breath as he realized Sonya could die against the ninja after all the effort he had put forth to bring her safely to his emperor's realm. Though the sorcerer hated seeing her reach the base of the bridge, he also knew he had no control over the fight which was about to follow.

Staring straight ahead and showing as little emotion as possible, Sonya walked towards the middle of the bridge where Reptile waited. The ninja's unmasked lizard-like face was contorted into an apparent smile as he anticipated his next victim. The kombatant stood in a fighting stance about fifteen feet away as the eyes of everyone in the audience as well as the prison cell were on her. In the same fashion, Reptile turned into his own stance and both fighters were ready as the kombatant stood her ground and waited for him to attack first. With her left eye still forced shut as a result of the hammer blow, she could only see him by using her right eye as she anticipated his move

Contrary to the action that Sonya expected, the green ninja did not rush forward or execute a flying kick. Instead, he quickly looked down towards his feet as he lifted his right arm over his own head and appeared to be throwing an invisible potion on the ground. The kombatant only had an instant to ask herself what he was doing before Reptile turned invisible in front of her eyes. Sonya gasped and instinctively stepped backwards as Ellison's eyes widened in his cell while he was watching the battle. Before being able to organize a plan of action, the kombatant saw a shot of acid appearing out of nowhere and discharging towards her face. She jumped down and to her left, making sure not to go beyond the narrow width of the bridge. Though her reaction saved her life, it wasn't fast enough to bring her out of the acid's path completely. The projectile from the invisible ninja's mouth impacted into her right shoulder and she heard her flesh sizzling as she rolled on the bridge.

Sonya stood back up, hissing in pain and trying to ignore the latest injury as she made sure not to touch her right injured shoulder with her left hand since nothing could be done at the present time for it. Her opponent felt confident enough when he saw her in the current condition that he didn't bother spitting acid towards her again. Instead, Reptile decided to please his emperor by delivering the entertainment he was expected to. He rushed forward while still invisible and stopped merely inches away from the kombatant. Sonya screamed as she felt a punch landing on her stomach and she bent down after the impact. She was still trying to catch her breath when his invisible hand grabbed the hair which was in a tail at the back of her head and pulled her up to a standing position. The human felt herself being yanked up until she stood vertically before a second punch crashed into her face, knocking her head backwards.

Groaning with pain and frustration, she took one step backwards on purpose and swung her right arm ahead, hoping for a good result. Her fist only met air as the ninja had already stepped away. Realizing she had to try a new tactic, the kombatant somersaulted backwards once before landing gracefully on her feet. Deciding to gamble on using her new abilities, she concentrated her mind on altering her physical body. Within an instant, a crystal glow surrounded her and wings and a beak replaced her arms and mouth. Emperor Kahn seemed delighted with the new event while Shang Tsung was disappointed. The sorcerer had previously been looking forward to teaching her that particular art after she had agreed to become his queen. Back in the jail cell, Ellison's jaw dropped open as he viewed his lieutenant turning into a blue-green hawk.

Sonya soared vertically into the sky, thus putting valuable distance between herself and the invisible Reptile. She thought to herself that, at least this way, the green ninja would not be able to spit his acid towards her. While hovering about two hundred yards above the bridge, the kombatant looked down and surveyed the area below her. All the spectators could be seen with more clarity than if she had been in human form. Carefully, staring at the bridge, she also spotted traces of a silhouette standing at the area where her opponent had been before. Even though Reptile's magic had rendered him invisible to the human eye, a hawk's eyes were much more sensitive than a human's and Sonya could still see some minor fragments of his outline.

From two hundred yards in the air, the hawk turned her head downward and soared towards the bridge below at a 45 degree angle and an accelerating speed. Sonya intended to level her body horizontally with the bridge as soon as she was a few feet off its surface and then fly straight into the faint outline of the ninja. Unfortunately, she had misjudged her speed of descent and failed to adjust her position as she neared the top of the bridge. Panicking, the hawk tried to pull back, but ended up crashing down on the bridge anyway. Feeling dazed, Sonya shakily stood up on the bridge as laughter generated from the audience. Kahn's servants and guards were roaring hysterically, and even the emperor himself appeared amused. Shang Tsung, on the other hand, still wore a serious expression and just wished the fight would be stopped.

The hawk kombatant did not find anything amusing about her situation as her head ached even more than when she had fought against Motaro. Feeling enraged at being ridiculed by the audience, and probably also by her invisible opponent if she could see his facial expression, she screamed through her beak. The hawk flapped her giant wings and rose about a yard in the air over the bridge. Sonya then hurled herself in a horizontal position, aiming directly into the midsection of the faint silhouette who was still a fair distance in front of her. Up until that point, Reptile had not bothered to attack her, reasoning that his opponent's blunders were more entertaining for Kahn than his own attacks could ever be. But when the green ninja saw the hawk flying right for him, he knew his position had been spotted and he panicked. He only had enough time to shoot the acid from his mouth once, and he had not aimed properly. The acid projectile flew several inches over the hawk's body an instant before Sonya slammed into her adversary.

Reptile was forced to become visible again as he was hurled several yards back before he landed hard on his left side. The hawk, in the meantime, landed her feet gracefully on the bridge and Sonya appeared in her human form again within an instant afterwards. The kombatant rushed towards the ninja, intending to take advantage of his temporary failure.

From ten feet away from him, she lunged forward on her left foot while twisting her body to the left and extending her right leg. Sonya sailed through the air in a flying kick as she reached him. The bottom of her right foot crashed into the green ninja's left shoulder as he was standing up and he was spun around because of the impact. He still managed to remain standing, though, and did not fall down again. Liking the result and landing on her feet, the kombatant sent a front kick into Reptile's midsection as the ninja turned to face her. He bent down groaning and hissing as she attacked again. Sonya flipped upside down on her hands and wrapped her ankles around either side of his upper chest. Reptile screamed as he was tossed over her in a semicircle and landed on his back behind her before the kombatant returned back to a standing position.

The ninja stood up with a moan as he felt pain for the first time while on this bridge. He spotted his opponent rushing towards him as he was on his feet. Once she was close enough, he executed a roundhouse kick aimed for her head. Unfortunately for him, it was at the same time that Sonya had executed a leg sweep of her own. The back of the ninja's ankle sailed harmlessly in the air as she dropped to the ground and knocked his remaining leg out from under him. Reptile crashed back down on the hard bridge again as the kombatant jumped back on her feet. Looking down at him, she quickly gripped his throat with her left hand and pulled him up to his feet just as he had done to his previous opponents. The ninja didn't have a chance to react as she sent her right fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him again. As he bent down under the punch, she gripped the back of his head with her left hand to keep him from being able to stand back up too soon. She then aimed her right fist towards his lowered face and got ready to deliver a final blow.

"See you downstairs", she whispered as she uppercut the ninja in the chin and released the back of his head simultaneously.

Reptile staggered backwards until he went beyond the width of the bridge and was thrown past it. He fell over the edge and Sonya asked herself why he did not scream as he dropped closer towards the waiting spikes below. His body crashed into the ground and was impaled only a few feet away from the prisoner who had fallen off the bridge only a short time ago. Unknown to her, the ninja did not yell out because he was sure Shao Kahn would bring him back to life very soon; the emperor would not be able to imagine life without his personal entertainer.

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It was while Sonya was being roughly escorted back to the cell that the distortion in the fabric of Shao Kahn's realm occurred. She was still feeling proud of her actions against Reptile, since she had clearly saved some innocent prisoners' lives, when the mutilation of the sky caught her eyes. Random lightning bolts appeared out of nowhere as worried guards and monks alike stared towards the changing sky. The kombatant then turned her face towards Kahn himself, seeing the emperor as he stood up and seemed perplexed by the invasion his realm was experiencing. The two guards on either side of her as well as the third one who stood behind her forgot about the kombatant they were supposed to watch over and turned their attention away as well.

A large and bright portal began to form only yards away from the spikes at the bottom of the bridge and figures emerged from it as soon as it was large enough to grant passage. Liu rushed out first, scanning the entire scenery as soon as possible. The monk spotted Sonya in the distance as she was being dragged towards the waiting cell and recognized his fellow kombatant instantly. Johnny and Kitana followed him from inside the portal only seconds afterwards, ready to engage anyone they saw on the other side who decided to challenge them. As Sonya's guards were momentarily distracted by the appearance of the unexpected portal, she squinted her right eye as she viewed a gray android which emerged out of the portal also. Smoke stood his ground, surveying the area much like Liu had done and keeping his arms at the ready as fumes rose out of his metallic body. Seeing his team there, Liu pointed towards Shao Kahn as Shang Tsung and the emperor's servants quietly watched.

"SHAO KAHN!", the monk yelled, "I CHALLENGE YOU TO MORTAL KOMBAT. WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?".

Johnny pointed at the emperor after he waited only an instant and didn't hear Kahn's response.

"ANSWER THE MAN, UGLY!", the actor added.

Emperor Kahn pointed back towards the four intruders with his right index finger before finally replying.

"Destroy them!", Kahn ordered his servants, showing more anger than usual in his voice.

It was then that all hell broke loose.

Sonya sent her right elbow into the chin of the guard who stood at her right side, knocking him backwards as he yelled out. Still preoccupied after seeing the three other human kombatants and especially Smoke, the remaining two guards proved to be fortunately unprepared for her reaction. She turned around and swiftly kicked the man behind her in the stomach. As he bent down and dropped his spear, gasping for breath, Sonya saw the last escort on her left as that one finally tried to counterattack. He began raising the tip of his spear, aiming for her chest, while the kombatant grabbed the back of the head of the watchman she had just kicked, preventing that one from standing. She wrapped both her hands around his head and groaned as she roughly shoved him towards her left. The head of the guard behind her impacted with the hands of the watchman at her left, forcing the latter to drop his grip on the spear.

The man from her left turned his right hand into a fist as the guard who was previously behind her fell on the ground, temporarily incapacitated. The reaction of the guard from the left was too slow, though, because Sonya already impacted her own fist into his jaw as he was still swinging his right arm. She felt his teeth shattering under the impact as his head snapped back and blood erupted out of his mouth. Instead of remaining at that spot to finish her three adversaries, the kombatant decided to take advantage of their momentary injuries to bolt away. She ran as fast as she could towards the cell where her fellow Special Forces soldier was being held with the other prisoners. Dashing away, she did not see the two servants who were busy removing Reptile's impaled corpse from the pit under the bridge. Her adrenaline level was driving her forward with such force that she totally forgot about the acid wound in her right shoulder as dozens of the emperor's human guards rushed past her to get to the new intruders. Once standing outside the prison cell door, Sonya rested the left side of her face against it to warn the individuals inside of her planned actions.

"ELLISON, I'M COMING IN!", she screamed, "STAY AWAY FROM THE DOOR!".

Inside the cell, Ellison wondered to himself how she hoped to come inside since the only way was to go through a locked steel door. Before he was able to ask out loud what she was plotting, he heard the kombatant screaming from outside. The heavy steel door broke down as Sonya's two feet impacted against it while she was executing a forward somersault. The door crashed horizontally on the ground amid an explosion of dust before she landed on it feet first.

"We got help", Sonya smiled as she pointed behind her, referring to her fellow kombatants and the strange cyborg she had seen.

"Great!", Ellison exclaimed as suddenly-energized prisoners rushed out of the cell, eager to either try to escape or fight against the guards while Kahn's troops were distracted.

Both soldiers were the last to leave through the doorway since they had waited for everyone else to get out first. They then dashed out of the cell, zealously anticipating to contribute to the battle outside. Once away from the prison cell, Sonya turned to Ellison and was about to advise him of a plan. She thought they should stay together and proceed towards the three kombatants and the cyborg to create a unified stronghold against Kahn's guards. She never got the chance to utter her first word because she suddenly saw his body convulsing violently. Ellison's eyes opened wide as his torso shot upwards. The kombatant gasped as she then spotted blood gushing out of his mouth. Not knowing the reason for what happened, she gripped one of his hands, unsure as to which one it was. Her fellow soldier then gasped once before he closed his eyes and died right away. His body fell backwards and would've hit the ground, but she rushed forth and placed her arms under his back and shoulders, thus easing him towards the ground instead.

Still confused, Sonya felt his blood on her hands. She was wondering why he bled from the back when she saw a triangular-shaped blade being pulled out of her dead comrade's upper back. She rested Ellison's corpse on the ground as she followed the path of the retreating blade, ignoring the sounds from around her and anxious to see its origin. The bloodied blade was about three inches wide and eight inches long as it was attached to a cord. The kombatant trailed it with her eyes for a few moments as it quickly traveled about forty steps backwards before reaching its origin. Sonya heard herself screaming in rage as she saw the blade being withdrawn into Reptile's right sleeve. The ninja with the lizard-like head stood his ground, smiling menacingly at her as he realized she was surprised to see him alive. The kombatant quickly understood that Shao Kahn's action had resurrected him in the few seconds between the appearance of the portal and her breaking down of the cell door.

Pushing his green head forward ahead of the rest of his body, Reptile spat forth a thick tongue of flame which was aimed at her. Sonya quickly somersaulted backwards just in time as the flame reached the spot where she had stood. She felt the intense heat from it as she retreated from the burst of fire since she was only a fraction of a second ahead of it. The kombatant kept somersaulting backwards while the tongue of flame stopped since it reached about sixty steps ahead of Reptile and could not continued further. Sonya finally stopped sailing backwards through the air and landed on her feet as she was safely out of the fire's range. Seeing her safe, the green ninja extended his right arm towards her even though they were both about seventy steps apart.

"THE BEST FROM MY RACE AND THE BEST FROM THE SORCERER'S ASSASSINS!", Reptile screamed.

The bloody blade shot out of his sleeve again, racing towards the only human opponent who had defeated him on the bridge over the pit. With her left eye still beaten shut, Sonya jumped to her left and rolled on the ground as the blade rushed past above her. The cord attached to the bloody knife was still racing past as she quickly stood back up. Hoping for the best, the kombatant grabbed the cord with both hands as it was rushing away from her. As a result, she felt the burn in her hands as the friction from the rope lacerated the skin on her palms. Reptile swiftly pulled the cord back and yanked her towards him as she persistently retained her grip on it. Although she tried to run back with it, she stumbled towards the green ninja because the cord was being withdrawn too fast. As she got to within fifteen steps from him, Sonya's right eye widened as she saw the ninja spitting out acid. It would've been hard for him to miss from such a close proximity.

She released the rope and involuntarily dropped to the ground since she lost her balance. Despite her instinctive reaction, the acid shot out of the ninja's mouth and impacted with the right half of her throat. Sonya panicked as she smelled her flesh burning and couldn't breath. She remained on the ground and bent down while she gripped her throat in a futile attempt that only melted the edge of her fingers too. She then looked up and saw Reptile approaching her in a casual manner. Stifling, the kombatant pulled herself up to her feet as the green ninja came closer. Reptile was about five steps away when he became invisible and rushed forward. Her current condition forbade her from being able to strike back as she could only remain on her feet, bent down slightly and still with her hands wrapped around her throat. Sonya felt a sharp punch in her face as her head snapped backwards, tearing the sections of her throat which weren't already destroyed by the acid. Much to Reptile's disappointment, she managed to remain standing as she staggered back. As she heard him laughing, the green ninja delivered a second punch, this time aimed for her stomach. Sonya's body violently snapped forward under the blow before she saw drops of blood and flesh from her throat falling on the ground by her feet.

The kombatant stood up straight, adamant to die while fighting. Gasping for the air which didn't reach her lungs, she swung a right fist. Her strike only met air as Reptile continued his annoying laughter. Sonya felt drops of sweat coming down her face as she became more frustrated, desperate to kill the green ninja before she died herself. Before she was able to swing again, she felt a powerful kick slamming into her torso. Several of the kombatant's ribs broke under the impact as the wind was knocked out of her. She fell on her back, landing hard on the ground as she lost even the ability to gasp for air.

Sonya looked up and saw only the sky even though she knew the green ninja stood over her. She told herself that she had failed. Reptile had won the fight and she was lying on the ground, unable to stand up, much less fight back and defeat him. She was wondering how Kahn's ninja would finish her when she spotted a paper fan gliding vertically through the air towards her. An explosion of blood appeared in mid-air about three steps away from her as a scream followed. Reptile became visible as Sonya saw his severed right arm falling off his shoulder and dropping towards the ground by his feet. The ninja gripped the bloody shoulder socket with his left hand as he fell down on his knees, still screaming. From the ground, Sonya followed the paper fan with her eyes as it followed a circular path in the air and returned to the direction from which it had arrived. Off in the distance, Kitana held her right hand out and the fan gently rested between her thumb and index fingers. The Outworld princess closed the fan with a click of her fingers and it vanished. She saw Sonya hurt in the distance and would've liked to help her fellow kombatant, but a swarm of guards quickly approached her before she could take her first step. She knew that her team of four fighters was already in trouble.

Seeing her opponent injured and bleeding, Sonya moaned as she rose to her feet. The crippling fire in her chest and neck threatened to force her back down, but she groaned without making any sounds as she staggered back to a standing position. Reptile, in the meantime, fell on his left side, still trying vainly to stop the bleeding from his right shoulder as he heard the screams of his emperor's guards in the background. With her vision blurred, the human kombatant swayed as she approached him. She bent down, looking at his lizard-like face as he returned her glance, while she reached into her left boot. Fortunately for her, Kahn's guards had not thoroughly searched her while she was unconscious after having been brought to this new realm. She felt the handle of her five-inch switchblade knife before she pulled it out with her right hand. Snapping the razor-sharp blade open, Sonya brought her face closer to Reptile's as her fiery right eye met both his eyes.

"Guess what, tough guy", she surprised herself as she managed to speak, "Your boss is about to die. And once he does, no one is bringing you back this time".

Without another word, and before the green ninja could raise his left arm to shield himself, she sent the knife into his stubby throat. Reptile's body convulsed as he spat blood and his long tongue wildly shot out of his mouth with no particular aim. Sonya violently pulled the bloody knife out of his throat as he roared in pain. The ninja's spasms lasted for only a few seconds before he stopped moving and lay completely still. The human then thrust the blade into his closed right eye just to make sure he was dead and was satisfied when the ninja's body did not stir. Leaving the blade in his eye, Sonya's right eye rolled into the back of her head as she let go of the knife handle and collapsed next the dead ninja.

She was calmly waiting for death when she sensed movement from a few feet away. Assuming that it was one of Kahn's guards or monks, the kombatant knew that her mission was complete with Reptile's demise and she was ready to accept her own death in peace. She was lying on her back with her eyes closed and decided not to open them since the surrounding darkness was eerily comfortable. As she sensed the person near her stopping, and didn't feel a fatal blow being delivered against her, she swore quietly as her curiosity forced her to open her eye. Once she felt the agony of prying her right eye open, the human kombatant saw Shang Tsung as the sorcerer was kneeling next to her, wondering if she was still alive. It was possible that the vision in her only useful eye was distorted from the heavy trauma her body had received up to this point, but she thought that he appeared sad as he touched her forehead.

"Get lost, Tsung", she gasped, not bothering to lift her head off the ground.

The sorcerer turned his attention away from her and towards the ensuing battle between his master's guards and the other kombatants. He knew that the warriors from the Earth realm were doomed, even if they had the cyborg Smoke on their side. They were outnumbered by about a hundred to one, and many more guards and servants were scattered throughout the entire castle. With thousands of human soldiers and billions of mutants serving the emperor in his realm, the three kombatants and their cyborg ally simply did not have a chance. Even if one of them had managed to fight against the emperor personally, the sorcerer was sure that his emperor would tear that mortal to pieces within moments. Despite her debilitated condition, Sonya amazed herself when she was able to read what was on his mind, as she knew Johnny, Liu and Kitana were destined to lose as well.

"Help them", she managed to gasp next, locking her useful eye with him as he returned his attention to her.

"I cannot", the sorcerer shook his head, "Shao Kahn is my lord. I cannot".

"If you love me, then be on my side for a change", she whispered as she reached up with her right hand and touched his right wrist.

She spat out blood, staining her throat and halter red, as the remnants of her neck began to melt towards the ground under her. Sonya felt herself passing out, probably for the last time, as she saw the sorcerer being mentally torn between his allegiance to his emperor and his desire to help her. He was still struggling with the decision when she felt the darkness engulfing her. She told herself that Shang Tsung might've loved her, but he would always be Kahn's sorcerer. His identity could not be denied, and his feelings for her simply were not strong enough to overcome his personality as Kahn's soldier.

"I thought so", she said out loud with as much strength as possible so he could hear her.

Sonya closed her right eye and felt nothing else. The sorcerer remained on his knees next to her as his mournful eyes stared at her face. The sadness he felt at that moment was unlike anything he had ever experienced before as he knew he would never acquire this human kombatant as his queen. Shang Tsung felt a single tear crawling down from his left eye and he swiftly dried it with his left index finger. But Sonya never knew the extent of his sorrow because she was already dead.

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"Distract them!", Liu exclaimed as Johnny, Kitana and Smoke were already busy fending off the guards.

The monk leapt high into the air, looking to reach Shao Kahn without getting hurt so he could battle and hopefully defeat the emperor himself. While he had turned his body into a ball and was about five yards off the ground, one of the guards aimed a spear towards him, readying to fire with it. Kahn's servant never got the chance because Smoke gripped him by the neck from behind. His windpipe was compressed with such strength that he was unable to breath as he gasped and dropped the weapon. The guard's body shook like a fish out of water as he desperately turned his face as far around as possible. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the gray cyborg as that one held a metallic arm rigidly extended and retained the grip on his neck. Kahn's soldier reacted instinctively, swinging his right fist against the cyborg. His fist landed on Smoke's left shoulder and he instantly felt pain as he broke his right knuckles as a result. Completely unaffected, the cyborg lifted him into the air before tossing him in a semi-circular path into the air with ease.

Liu, in the meantime, was on his feet again and absorbed in his rush as he ran past guards faster than Kahn's servants thought was possible. His attention was set on the raised pedestal where the large emperor stood, quietly watching the guards' response to the four intruders. The monk ignored all outside distractions, such as the warcries of the guards and even the screams of the battle between his comrades and the realm natives. He knew he could not afford to think about anything other than the task at hand if he was to have a chance against Shao Kahn. Dashing ahead with all his energy, his face happened to turn slightly to the left and he spotted Sonya's corpse lying in the distance. The sorcerer Shang Tsung was also nearby as he was now standing next to her and looking down at her face. The White Lotus member rigidly forced his face back ahead of him as he told himself he could not allow to mourn over the death of one of his friends. Kahn was responsible for Sonya's death and the emperor would pay now. And if Shang Tsung had a hand in his fellow kombatant's death, then the sorcerer would also pay afterwards.

A guard holding a sword over his own head rushed forward as he was running in an intercept course with Liu. According to their speed on foot as they ran towards each other, the two men were to collide in only two more seconds. The monk slowed his rush slightly as Kahn's soldier reached him and lifted the sword to strike. Liu roared as he angrily delivered a right uppercut into the man's chin before the guard was able to bring the sword down into his head. The emperor's servant dropped his weapon as his teeth shattered and blood exploded out of his nose and mouth. He then fell on his back and landed on the ground unconscious as Liu swiftly resumed the dash towards the emperor.

While that occured, Johnny sent a roundhouse kick into the head of the first guard who was near him. The actor spun around and leg swept a second native as the first one fell down oblivious to his surroundings. As the kombatant knocked the second guard's legs out from under him, he viewed Smoke while the cyborg lifted two watchmen, on in each hand, into the air. The gray android abruptly banged both men's heads together, knocking them out simultaneously, before he released his grip on them. As both men landed on the ground next to each other, a yellow bolt shot out of another guard's spear and struck Smoke in the back of the head. Unscathed, the android turned around and stared at the man who had fired the shot as the watchman responsible held the spear from ten yards away. The guard's eyes were widened with shock as he saw the lack of effect the enchanted spear had on the target. Smoke rushed towards him as he instinctively screamed and tried to raise his arms to protect himself. The android headbutted the guard and knocked him down before he was able to use the spear again.

Johnny jumped back up to his feet as several more guards rushed towards him, each of them screaming and looking forward to cutting him to pieces. He spun to his left and kicked his right leg ahead as he saw the first soldier nearing him from the front. Johnny's right foot slammed into the man's chest and froze his forward rush before knocking him into the air. Concentrating on that opponent, the kombatant did not spot another guard who arrived from behind him. Kahn's servant was about to strike with his sword when a harpoon shot out of Smoke's chest. The harpoon imbedded itself into his upper back as he screamed out in pain and blood poured out of the wound. The cyborg pulled the harpoon back and dragged the man's convulsing body with it as Kahn's servant still gripped the sword. The wounded guard finally reached Smoke, though he didn't see the android from behind him. His last thoughts were that he wanted to strike his new attacker with the sword when Smoke's right fist crashed into the back of his head, decapitating him instantly. His severed head rolled off his shoulders and fell on the ground before the cyborg pulled his harpoon out of the headless body.

Without knowing that Smoke had saved his life, Johnny exhaled as he swung his left elbow in the chin of yet another one of Kahn's servants, snapping that one's head back. Risking a glance, the actor then turned his attention towards the direction that Liu had headed. He saw his fellow kombatant as the monk was only a few yards away from the base of the pedestal where Kahn still remained standing. Glad to know that Liu had almost made it to his destination safely, Johnny turned his body at a slight angle so he was facing the position directly opposite to the one Kitana faced. As he did, his eyes caught the sight of a guard who stood five steps ahead. Though having only seen the native watchman for a fraction of a second, the kombatant's mind scanned the view as if the guard's image was frozen in front of him. Johnny heard himself sighing as he saw that Kahn's servant held a spear aimed accurately towards his head. He had seen Smoke emerge unhurt after he was hit with the same kind of weapon, but also knew that the android's exterior was much tougher than an average human's. His only sensible course of action now was to execute a flying kick towards the guard who was five steps in front of him, even though he was sure the native could've opened fire before he was able to cover that distance. Johnny screamed to fire himself up.

The kombatant flew through the air with his right leg extended ahead of the rest of his body, eagerly aiming for the guard's chest. While he was in midair, the guard pulled back on the spear and a yellow bolt shot out of weapon, striking the actor in the middle of the torso and violently knocking him down. Johnny crashed on the ground as he felt the bolt impaling his upper body. He saw the pool of blood under his chest as it quickly widened since the wound was large. The actor involuntarily gasped for air as he realized this was how his life was fated to end. He told himself that he wouldn't have traded his experiences for anything in the world as he looked up for one last time and saw Liu springing on top of the platform. Johnny wasglad that the monk had reached the emperor alive, but he still wasn't sure if it'd be enough to give his home realm a fighting chance to survive this latest assault against its existence. It was his last thought as the darkness engulfed him permanently and he died.

Unknown to the actor, Smoke sent his harpoon forth as he spotted the guard who had killed the kombatant. The harpoon smashed into the side of the watchman's neck and sliced through it with ease. The man's body remained standing for several seconds after his detached head fell off it. By the time the decapitated corpse finally dropped to the ground, the cyborg was already busy elsewhere against others.

With Kitana being the only other person who was alive and on his side, Smoke ran towards the princess as he reasoned that he should do his best to safeguard her for as long as possible. He tackled a human guard who tried to stand in his way and the man was tossed in the air as the cyborg ran through him like he wasn't even there. Smoke passed Johnny's corpse and resumed his fighting stance as he stood next to Kitana. The princess was trying hard to neglect seeing the death of her fellow kombatant as she delivered a swift roundhouse kick into the head of the first guard around her. The man screamed out as he was hurled backwards and then fell on the ground.

Smoke, in the meantime, felt his body trembling and drops of oil erupting from it as several bolts of electricity struck him at the same time. From twenty yards away, seven guards were opening fire against him with their spears at once as they were grouped in a cluster. The bursts of electricity did not cease as the natives kept aiming towards him and firing incessantly, as they knew he was more resilient than any mortal they had seen before. As his body was thrown backwards and he felt himself colliding with Kitana, the cyborg knew he had to act quick, as he didn't want to be a distraction to her while she was fighting. With yellow bolts still recoiling off his torso, Smoke drove himself vertically downward until he quickly bore a hole through the ground under him and vanished in it. The guards who were firing at him abruptly stopped, stunned and asking themselves where he had gone. Before any one of them was able to come up with an answer, the android shot out of the ground in the middle of the cluster of guards who were previously twenty yards away. The two watchmen closest to him were viciously thrown out of the cluster as he punched them both while he rocketed towards the sky. The other members in the group panicked and the cluster began to disband. Coming back down on the ground about ten yards away from them, Smoke sent his harpoon ahead out of his chest because he did not wish to allow those men to escape. The projectile maneuvered through the air until it wrapped around the responsible watchmen and quickly tied them together by using the cord it was attached to. The cyborg then sent a discharge of electricity from his chest through the cord. All five men who were restrained by the cord hollered as they were electrocuted within seconds. Smoke then withdrew the harpoon back and the five watchmen fell on the ground dead.

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Meanwhile, Liu rushed ahead on the platform as he saw several more human guards who had remained behind to protect the emperor running to intercept him. He began devising a plan to slip through the final line of defense to reach Kahn by sustaining as few injuries as possible. To avoid physical wounds to himself, he knew he could not afford to try to injure his human opponents, he instead had to concentrate solely on dashing past them as they took aims at him. An instant before the first human guard was about to meet the monk, though, everyone on the platform heard the emperor raising his voice.

"STAY AWAY FROM THE MORTAL!", Shao Kahn ordered his servants, "HE IS MINE TO DESTROY!".

As the emperor's voice resonated throughout the platform, the human servants froze their rush towards Liu and quickly pulled away from the monk as they kept their swords and spears pointed towards the intruder. Seeing their willingness to follow Kahn's command, the White Lotus member slowed down himself as he finally saw the emperor standing clearly thirty yards ahead. The seven-foot tall master had his arms calmly crossed in front of his chest as his metal mask hid any facial expression, as usual. Though unsure, Liu guessed that Kahn looked forward to his chance against the monk, eager to destroy the supposedly inferior human pest once and for all. The monk approached the larger opponent with more caution in his steps as his body was already in a fighting stance. Kahn extended his right forearm ahead of his torso with the hand pointed towards Liu before he pulled his right fingers towards him, silently inviting the monk to attack. Liu heard himself yelling. He faced the ultimate test which was about to challenge all the training and discipline he had endured through his entire life.

Liu flew towards Kahn in a seemingly horizontal line with his right leg extended. His right foot was about to impact with the exact spot where the emperor's solar plexus was located. Unfortunately, the immortal giant had lifted both his forearms and placed them vertically in front of his chest as he saw his opponent's flying kick. The result was that the monk's foot slammed into the emperor's forearms and Liu's body shook from the impact as Kahn remained standing still.

The White Lotus monk landed on his feet, ready to deflect any blows that the emperor would probably swing against him. But Kahn didn't attempt to strike, he only stood still with his arms bent but otherwise resting on either side of his upper body. Surprised, Liu told himself that his adversary was only trying to confuse him. He dropped to the ground as his left knee and both his hands met the floor of the platform. Using all the energy he could summon, the monk swung his right leg in a circle as the back of his ankle crashed into Kahn's heel. Liu's eyes enlarged while pain emanated from his ankle and then spread to the rest of his body as the emperor's legs remained fixed on the ground as if his sweep hadn't even existed. Still not discouraged, the kombatant leapt back up to his feet as Kahn still didn't seek to strike back.

Looking up into his adversary's steel mask, Liu let loose a continual blast of punches aimed at the emperor's stomach and chest. His hands shifted from fists to open palms with the different attacks as his arms moved too fast for the human guards to follow clearly. The members of the small audience on the platform only saw a blur of skin color flashing as the monk's hands delivered fast and constant blows towards Shao Kahn. The emperor, though, was not impressed as he successfully countered every one of the kombatant's attacks. Every one of Liu's fists was met by a forearm which triumphantly kept his punch from touching the emperor's torso while each of his open palms was stopped by meeting an open palm from Kahn himself. Feeling frustration rising in him, Liu ceased his useless blows and took one step backwards, trying desperately to come up with a more effective idea.

Getting one and hoping that it was good, the monk leapt vertically into the air as he twisted to his right. He yelled as he raised his left leg, aiming for the emperor's head as that one remained like a statue except when it was time to defend himself. The monk's left ankle crashed into the right side of Kahn's face before the emperor turned his head slightly to his own left because of the impact. Landing back on his legs, Liu gasped as he felt that he had twisted his left ankle in the collision with the side of Kahn's mask. Before giving the seemingly unbeatable giant the chance to react, the monk twisted to his left and concentrated his body weight on his damaged left ankle. The right leg flew up as he screamed before his foot delivered a solid blow into Kahn's stomach. The realm master bent down under the impact, though not gasping for air. Still bent down, the emperor then turned his face back perfectly ahead so he could stare forward into the monk's confused eyes. Unknown to the kombatant or any of his servants, he was completely unhurt and grinning under his mask as he waited for his tiny opponent's next strike.

Liu, at the same time, switched most of his body weight on his right leg as he decided to risk executing a bicycle kick with a twisted left ankle. While the emperor stood back up straight, the monk leapt up and forward as both his feet crashed into Kahn's chest. This time, Kahn didn't even bother blocking the assault as his body wasn't forced to step backwards. Instead, he quickly gripped both of Liu's ankles while the monk was still in the air. The monk gasped as he tried to pull out of the powerful grip, but his efforts were to no avail as the emperor began to turn around exactly where he stood. The kombatant was lifted horizontally as Kahn's spin became faster and the emperor retained the grasp on his ankles. Liu felt the blood draining from his brain as he saw his surroundings racing by him at an accelerating speed.

"PATHETIC!", Kahn thundered as he finally released the monk's ankles.

Liu flew backwards through the air and landed on his back about ten yards away from the edge of the platform. He felt an concussion in his head as pain came close to overwhelming his spine. Ignoring the discomfort, the monk shakily stood back up as he saw Kahn aiming a right index finger at him.

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH, MORTAL!", the emperor roared next.

Kahn then bent his right elbow and lifted the arm over his head. A glowing spear appeared in his right hand before he threw it towards Liu. Gasping, the monk dove to his right as the spear crashed into the ground where he had been standing previously. The kombatant rolled on the ground before leaping back up to his feet. Before either he or the emperor were able to strike again, he heard a distinct scream from a fair distance away amid all the noise and chaos which surrounded him. Turning his face away from the platform and Kahn's giant figure, Liu froze momentarily as he spotted Kitana over fifty yards away as Smoke tried to shield her. The android was too late because the princess was down on her knees as a sword had impaled her through the stomach. Her fingers were cut while she gripped the bloody blade which protruded out of her stomach before she crashed faced-down on the ground and never moved again. Near her, the White Lotus warrior recognized Johnny's corpse also.

Liu heard himself screaming. He felt rage and hatred for the first time in years as all thoughts except those pertaining to revenge were lost. Coming to Kahn's realm, he had known that it was possible for some of his friends to die during the mission to defeat the emperor. The monk had even considered the likelihood that every person in the team might never come back home, and he had thought he was prepared for the dire consequences. But watching the only woman that he had ever come close to loving die proved to be too much. Liu's hatred impelled him to turn towards the emperor without any plan of action in his mind before he simply rushed towards the larger opponent, intending to tackle that one where he stood. Kahn, though, nodded his head and a score of his guards jumped on Liu as soon as the monk had reached the platform. Despite the great resistance he put forth, it didn't take them long to pin him to the floor.

The monk was still hissing and trying to break out of the guards' restraint as Kahn proudly approached him. Looking up, Liu stared into the emperor's mask as he realized the master of the realm was about to speak.

"Is that the best you can offer, mortal?", Kahn asked with a softer tone than before.

Liu screamed again and tried to rush towards him, only to be pinned down against the floor like before.

"Just as I have always known", the emperor crossed his arms, "If this is the best your realm has to offer, then it is doomed for sure. And doomed it will be as soon as I introduce my latest weapon".

The monk quieted down long enough as curiosity finally made itself known and dispersed the hatred his mind was engulfed in, if only for a moment.

"Losing the Centaurs was not encouraging", Kahn explained, feeling proud, "But they can be replaced".

His metal mask remained fixed on Liu's face.

"The good doctor who created my cyborgs was a man of many talents", the emperor added, "One of his projects was the creation of clones, as I am sure that Outworld princess over there has already found out. But what my poor adopted daughter did not know is that clones can also be produced on a massive scale, and I plan to push the good doctor's latest toy to its limits with my mutants".

The monk did not like what he was hearing.

"Right now, your realm is facing the challenge of a mere two billion mutants", Kahn went on, "Those invaders will eventually be defeated without the help of the Centaurs, unless, of course, they receive aid. I can increase the number of mutants to fifteen billion by the end of tonight. I did not wish to do so, as putting the doctor's invention through such strain will no doubt destroy it, but the addition of thirteen billion mutants will be worth it, as I will enjoy the increment of six billion souls to my power".

The emperor lifted his face towards the sky and laughed heartily before turning his attention back to Liu.

"And there is nothing you can do about it!", he barked as he pointed his right index down at the monk, "Your so-called fighters are all dead, as you will be right now".

Instead of continuing in a useless rage, Liu surprised the emperor by being totally calm.

"Not true", the monk smiled.

Before Kahn could react, Liu turned his head towards where Smoke was fending off scores of human guards fifty yards away.

"SMOKE, ACTIVATE!", the monk yelled.

The cyborg abruptly stopped fighting back and was struck by several swords and electric bolts as he raised his left forearm in a horizontal position. He then began pressing small buttons on his forearm with his right index and middle fingers, eager to terminate his existence as well as his former master's. Seeing the result of Liu's message, Kahn laughed again.

"What?", the emperor asked, "He is trying to activate his internal detonator? That is so pitiful! Even for your kind! Do you not know that the cyborg's detonators are not functional in my own realm? Do you think I am stupid like you?".

"Smoke has a consciousness, stupid", the monk replied with a grin, "He was able to override your safeguard!".

Kahn froze for an instant as he suddenly realized that none of his cyborgs had developed self-awareness before. He asked himself if it would've been possible for an android to disregard a programmed command if the machine was capable of thought. His question was answered when he felt the earth shaking beneath his feet. Kahn screamed as he turned to Smoke and saw the android's metallic body shivering, indicating that the internal detonator had been activated. The emperor's human guards panicked and yelled out in fear as Kahn's realm roared. The servants who were restraining Liu to the floor suddenly let him go as each person tried to run in a separate direction. The monk sat up, knowing there was no escaping the apocalypse which had been initiated in their realm. He saw the sky turning red and smiled even though his back hurt a lot. The last thing Liu heard was Shao Kahn screaming out in anger and frustration.

"NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!", the emperor's voice echoed throughout his entire kingdom.

Then came oblivion.

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Sheeva had all four hands full as she gripped a steel column in the debris of a collapsed building. The weight of the object was almost too heavy for even her, but she finally managed to lift it until it reached her waistline before tossing it aside. The column flew a few steps away from her and a loud explosion was heard as it landed on the concrete ground. Ignoring it, the Shokanite dug deeper through the remaining rubble, zeroing in on the noise she had come across. Tossing several small pieces of rocks aside, she ultimately spotted a human hand sticking out of the ruins. Holding the hand with her upper right grip, Sheeva then easily pulled her arm upwards, thus roughly yanking the native out of the rocks and into the air. The man's left arm was extended vertically over the rest of his body as numerous bruises covered his body and his torn clothes. Seeing that he was alive, the Shokanite released her grip on his hand and the human then fell back down on the rubble which was only inches away from the bottom of his feet. Despite the closeness of the debris, the uneven surface of the rubble still caused him to lose his balance and he fell on his back. Although the native's first reaction was one where he wished to express gratitude towards his rescuer, his smile quickly faded as he realized he was staring at an intruder. The man raised his left hand ahead of his body as he crawled away from her while still lying on the ground.

"Get away for me, you monster!", he barked, feeling more scared than anything else, "Why did you pull me out? You wanted to have my blood on your hands because knowing I suffocated wasn't satisfying enough?".

Without bothering to stay to explain herself, Sheeva only turned away from the native and began walking towards the street. It was then that she heard a reverberating explosion, one that wasn't loud but was dramatic enough to divert everyone's attention. She lifted her head and saw the cloudy sky oscillating for several instants before everything returned to normal again. From behind her, the man had stood up and walked towards her without realizing it as he also was staring up at the sky. The native felt a strange, nonthreatening sensation towards the four-armed giant because he now knew she could've left him to die but instead had chosen to save his life.

"What was that?", the human asked, meaning the explosion and the movement in the sky.

"I have never seen this before in my life", Sheeva whispered out loud to herself, realizing that the native did not understand that a Shokanite's life lasted for several centuries, "I have only heard rumors about it. It is a shockwave, a shockwave that all realms experience when one of them has been destroyed".

"Huh?", the man questioned, feeling more confused than ever.

"A realm has been destroyed", the Shokanite repeated, a mixture of surprise and worry on her face.

She felt the sudden and overwhelming urge to rush towards her home realm to make sure that it wasn't the one which was just annihilated. Closing her eyes, the Shokanite concentrated her willpower ahead of her until a portal emerged a few yards away. With the Earth native watching, she quickly walked towards it and vanished through the bright light.

"Thank you", the man said, though Sheeva was already gone and didn't hear him.

She stepped through the portal and was delighted when she felt the ground from her home realm under her feet. Sheeva sighed thankfully as she then saw two other Shokanites who had been there ever since they heard about Kahn's attempt to sacrifice them.

"It is about time you decided to return to us", one of them addressed her, "We began to suspect you were enjoying the comforts of the Earth realm so much that you did not wish to come back any more".

Sheevashook her head.

"Never", she replied.

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Jax had just loaded a fresh clip into his M-16 rifle as he and several of his soldiers rushed into a building because humans were spotted from an open window. Sub-zero had expressed a desire to come along, so the ninja was next to the private who rushed through the main entrance of the building first. Detective Olsen and officer Pensky served as part of the support force storming the structure from a back entrance.

The first sight major Briggs saw was five mutants who were surprised by his unwelcome visit. All five intruders dashed towards the natives, but didn't get to within three steps of them. The ninja raised both arms ahead of his chest and sent forth a gust of cold, each hand aimed towards a different mutant. The neck and head of both invaders instantly turned to ice as they were stopped and fell. The first mutant fell forward, his forehead impacting with the floor and chipping as a result and the second mutant dropping on his right side, never to get up again. Jax and a private were quick to open fire, efficiently halting the advance of the three remaining mutants with three bullets. While the three invaders dropped dead with a round in the head each, several other soldiers rushed up the staircase to get to the humans.

While waiting for his men to return and guarding the entrance against any further trouble from invaders, Jax saw Olsen, Pensky and two soldiers approaching him from the rear of the building. He thus knew that no one was spotted at the back of the structure or in the alley leading to it. It was then that everyone heard the distant explosion which seemed to shake the foundation of the building they were in. Jax heard his soldiers outside exclaiming incoherently, so he indicated to the others to stay inside while he headed for the entrance to investigate. Once outside, the major approached his men and saw the shocked expression on their face.

"What?", he asked with his rifle at the ready, looking for other mutants, "Any more?".

"No", one of the soldiers shook his head, "No, sir".

"Why did I hear you guys?", Jax relaxed his weapon only a bit.

"The...", the private pointed up, "The sky shook, sir".

"Come again?", Jax's eyebrows rose.

"He's telling the truth, sir", another soldier added, "The sky just shook".

"Wonderful", the major sighed, "Just when I thought I had seen and heard everything. Why the hell would the sky shake? What does it mean?".

No one knew. All the humans there just exchanged confused glances as they heard the approaching rotor blades of a helicopter. A military transport chopper soon landed a few yards away from their vehicles as all the soldiers and civilians turned their faces away from it to protect their eyes against debris in the wind. As Jax and the others watched, an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter then landed about thirty yards down the street from the first flying machine. An armed military officer soon emerged from both and quickly proceeded towards the major, recognizing him as the highest ranking officer in the area. A young escort then exited the first helicopter as he carried a rifle with a telescopic sight and followed his commander. Jax was the first to salute all three individuals as his soldiers soon copied his gesture.

"Major", the first officer out of the transport helicopter hailed back.

"Colonel", Jax replied, "What can I do for you?".

"It's what _we_ can do for _you_, major", the colonel went on, "We're here to take these civilians off your hands, if you wish it. We are transporting as many survivors as we find to a hideout until this is over with".

"Great", major Briggs approved, telling himself it would be one less burden for him to worry about.

"The end should be soon anyway", the pilot from the Apache added, "Those horses have already vanished and the remaining forces of the enemy which opted to stay here have been decimated everywhere they turned".

Jax found a reason to smile. Things were finally beginning to look optimistic.

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Sonya opened her eyes and squinted as the bright sky in front of her face proved to be too brilliant at the beginning. She soon realized that she was lying on her back against a hard ground as she felt exhaustion like she had never experienced before. Every movement seemed to hurt as she bent her knees and elbows in an effort to sit up. Other than feeling extremely weary, though, she was fine. Her forearms were completely healed and she could open her left eye with ease, indicating the hammer blow was gone. Relieved, she also realized she could breath, meaning Reptile's acid wound on her throat was a thing of the past. An obstacle then blocked the white sky from her eyes as she groaned while rising to a seated position. She quickly saw that it was a face belonging to a human who was looking down on her.

"I haven't seen too many who were passed out during their trip here", Scott smiled as she opened her mouth and smiled back.

"Oh, man!", Sonya slightly shook her head, trying to lose the remnants of a headache, "Does this mean that I'm...".

"Dead?", the ninja finished her sentence when she stopped.

"Uhuh", she nodded while looking up at him.

"Afraid so", he let her know as he extended his right hand down towards her.

She gripped it and was pulled up to her feet.

"I don't believe this", she smiled as she was standing and looked into his eyes, "Me and you, here".

"There are worse fates I can think of", Scott agreed.

"This is great!", she embraced him as she had momentarily forgotten about Kahn and the invasion of Earth.

"But...", the kombatant suddenly froze as she pulled away, "The emperor".

"Kahn?", the ninja clarified.

She nodded, anxious to know the results.

"He's dead too. Earth is safe", he explained.

"So it wasn't all for nothing", she told herself.

"No, apparently not", Scott shook his head.

Sonya heard other, familiar voices from a short distance away. Turning her face, she spotted Liu and Kitana as the pair were involved in a zealous conversation with the monk's brother and another human who wore a hat with a metal edge. The giant Shokanite who had saved her life and those of her two fellow kombatants' against Goro also stood behind the hatted stranger, greeting the new arrivals.

"Liu also?", she thought out loud.

"Yeah", she heard someone other than Scott replying, "And it's about time you woke up. Any longer and you would've been asleep during your funeral".

Sonya saw Johnny approaching with the gray cyborg she had noticed when her friends originally stormed Kahn's realm. She was glad to see him, though unhappy that it meant the actor was dead too. The lieutenant wanted to return his greeting, and also ask where everyone else she had known and lost during life was. Images of her twin brother, lieutenant Richards, Ellison, Art Lean, Chris and even Shang Tsung appeared in her mind. She knew the sorcerer, though always having opposed her side in life, would need her support since he was likely to have many enemies in this realm. Before she was able to utter a word, though, just about everyone around her quieted down and stared in a single direction. A short distance away, a small boat hit the ground and stopped as it was sailing towards them on top of a crystal-colored sea. Hades stepped off the boat as he carried another unconscious soul on his shoulders. Sonya soon saw the reason everyone was silent all of a sudden. As the deity who was dressed in a cloak from head to toe placed the unconscious soul on the dry, dark ground, she saw that the person being delivered was Shao Kahn himself.

"I wouldn't wanna be him right now, that's for sure", Scott whispered at Sonya and Johnny as he stood behind them.

Kahn soon woke up and grudgingly began rising to his feet. Before he was completely in a standing position, Sonya saw an endless crowd of souls who were approaching him from one side. Despite the hostility between Kahn and the kombatants, none of the newly-deceased fighters made a move towards him. Instead, the kombatants seemed to be content to leave the emperor to the whim of the huge crowd which was nearing him, though he was still the only person not to see it.

"Who are those?", Sonya whispered as she turned her face towards Scott and pointed her right index finger at the solemn crowd.

"Every single soul that prick had enslaved in him when he died", the ninja murmured back, "And I doubt they're here to welcome him".

Kahn finally stood up straight, his seven-foot tall figure still groaning in pain. While still in a daze, he happened to take a glance towards a random direction and froze as he spotted the crowd which was still approaching him in a threatening fashion.

The human kombatants grinned as they knew that Kahn was about to get what he deserved.

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Rayden sighed with sadness as he felt the destruction of Shao Kahn's realm. His human kombatants were left with no other choice and had decided to wipe out the emperor's entire realm, along with themselves, his servants and his prisoners. The death of the mortals from the Earth realm as well as the demise of Kahn's innocent prisoners were a heavy price to pay to stop the emperor's evil, but the deed was successful. Shao Kahn would never terrorize, invade or conquer another realm again. The billions of souls he had enslaved in his never-ending lust for power were finally freed and would be allowed to rest where they should have been immediately after death.

He thought it was a shame that Liu, being his best kombatant, was not able to understand the vision he had sent into the portal in which the three humans and the cyborg were temporarily stranded. He had sent the vision to the monk because, as a deity, he had known that Liu did not possess the strength or endurance needed to defeat Kahn in a physical altercation. Instead, Rayden had hypothesized to himself that Liu's best chance to emerge victorious would've been to tap into his unused and mystical force. By remaining a safe distance away from Kahn, the monk might have been able to win the battle by solely relying on his arsenal of fire projectiles. Unfortunately, Liu had failed to comprehend the meaning of the vision before being woken up by his fellow kombatants since they were concerned. As Rayden was under orders to stay in the celestial palace until the end of the battle between his kombatants and the emperor, he was not able to go to Liu to explain the meaning in person. So the deity knew that Zeus had contributed to the death of his warriors. For that reason, the thunder god pressed his teeth together and vowed to himself that Zeus' position as chief of the gods would soon come to an end.

Looking down on the blue and green realm which he was assigned to, the thunder god told himself that Hades would have his hands full with the large influx of new souls. But at least his fellow deity would not be bothered by the knowledge that the emperor was keeping some of the rightful occupants of his realm away. A tired smile appeared on Rayden's face as he began imagining what was to come next in the fate of the Earth realm. With the most serious external threat and some of the most capable leaders gone, the realm was on the threshold of a new age.

Reminding himself of its history, the deity realized that he would not be allowed to rest for long. Earth's armies would soon decimate the remaining mutants and, with no one else to carry out Kahn's plans, would be free to govern the realm again. It would only be a short while before the natives recuperated from this latest blow and continued with their lives. Rayden knew that new heroes, and new villains, would emerge from the rubble of the realm which he had tried to protect. With the majority of his kombatants dead, all he had to do was wait until the new batch of warriors emerged so he could guide those mortals.

The deity sighed again. He knew he would never forget the mortals who had lost their lives fighting Kahn's evil, just as he had never forgotten the names and faces of all those who had come and gone before.

_END_

Midway, Mortal Kombat, the Dragon Design and Logo, and all offical character names and pictures are registered trademarks of Midway Games, Inc.

All stories are the properties of the writer.  
All author created characters remain the property of the autho


	9. FC9 Revival of Demon Warriors

_**Author's note (that's me:) **_

This story is written in continuation of my past eight Final Confrontation stories, as well as added in with a mixture of Quake 1, since I adore that great game and I hated the fact that there isn't a single good fanfiction about it anywhere. That and my favorite fighting game of all time – MK4, an eternal classic

But I digress.. Those stories were based strictly on the first MK movie as well as the MK : The Journey Begins cartoon, so that any characters who were not from either source were taken directly from the video games. So all known characters like Sonya, Liu, Johnny, Kitana, Rayden and Shang Tsung should be seen as the actors who played them in the first movie. To give a summary of the occurrences from those stories, since I wouldn't want someone to read all of them just to understand this, here's what occurred.

The first FC story took place before the MK movie as Sonya and Jax met Kano and Sonya hunted him down for killing her partner, whom she had only known for a few hours. The story ended where the MK movie had begun, with Sonya and Jax rushing into the dance studio as Shang Tsung and Kano waited backstage. Near the end of this first story, Sonya had met Scott, a fellow soldier who was under Jax's command who showed interest in her mission, unknown to her because he had personally come into contact with the Black Dragons while a civilian years ago. When Sonya returned from the tournament (without having Johnny Cage dying in the sequel since MKA never happened here), Scott became a close associate, along with Cage, Liu Kang and Jax. Sonya was famous for being the hot-tempered one in the team, while Liu was the strong and objective one, and Johnny was the relatively comical one who hated firearms no matter what. The ironic part was that whenever the villains were armed to the teeth, Johnny would join the heroes from the military as Scott and Sonya were armed also. Johnny ended up taking out as many villains as the others, and he was also the only one to emerge physically unharmed.

After several independent adventures, most of which made sense, Scott's past caught up with him when he met a clone of himself who had been created without his knowledge and was now working as an assassin for the Black Dragons. The clone had absconded from the criminal organization and was dying, so he offered Scott his exceptional physical abilities if Scott wished them, pointing out that Scott would also receive the assassin's memories along the way. Scott accepted, and while his strength multiplied beyond his imagination, his temper became an explosive one also. So it was with Rayden's help that Scott traveled to the land of the dead to learn how to control his temper under the guide of the greatest warrior ever, who happened to be Goro's older brother Durak. It was in this time that Sonya, Liu and Johnny had traveled to Outworld because Kitana's people were being brutally killed by mutants who now had the advantage of a new leader called Qarro. No one knew who or what Qarro was, but after Scott joined the four kombatants in Outworld after his training with Durak was over, an extensive battle with 200 mutants followed, which left only Scott and Johnny standing. It was only then that Qarro made his appearance and thus entered the first Centaur. Qarro was actually Motaro's student as Motaro was readying his Centaur army to invade the earth in order to gain a tactical advantage against Shao Kahn. As a test, Motaro wanted his average student, Qarro, to defeat the best human from the earth realm. Scott went against him and, with great difficulty, killed Qarro. So Motaro decided that his troops needed more training.

In FC7 Motaro's troops had grown strong enough and 1.5 billion Centaurs overran the earth realm. With Motaro being seen as their god, Rayden was able to mention to the earth warriors that the invasion would be repelled if a human was able to defeat Motaro in single combat. Rayden was forbidden to get involved directly since doing so would mean provoking the deity from the Centaurs' realm to intervene also, and Rayden was afraid that the battle which followed between the deities might've destroyed the earth in the process. The Centaurs' exterior was already known to be so tough that it was impervious to small-hand firearms, so a new 45mm Assault Rocket Launcher, or Arol, was developed in preparation for their imminent invasion. After a six-hour bloodbath, Scott and Sonya finally met Motaro and Scott challenged him, all the while with Shao Kahn wanting the humans to win since Kahn did not want Motaro to be his equal. The ensuing battle cost Scott his life as Motaro finally crushed him against a wall after a long fight. Not wanting the Centaur to win, Kahn desperately teleported Johnny Cage to the scene. Not understanding how he got there and not caring, Johnny challenged Motaro next. Johnny lost also, but escaped with only a broken ankle and several broken ribs. All hope of defeating Motaro in single combat seemed lost until Sonya realized that Motaro was exhausted since he had just beaten two of the best fighters from earth. Attacking his ego in front of his troops, she suckered him into accepting her challenge while she was rested and he wasn't. The mistake cost Motaro the fight and his life, and as a result the Centaurs who followed Motaro were forced to leave. At the end, Scott met Durak and the original Kung Lao in the land of the dead and Motaro was resurrected by Shao Kahn to serve as his second-in-command because Kahn wanted the Centaur army at his command.

And so brought FC8, and with it Kahn's attempt at taking the earth realm. Zeus first kept Rayden from interfering with it since he was afraid that Kahn might've become too powerful for even the gods if he conquered the earth, so Zeus didn't want to be on his bad side. Shao Kahn struck hard with a large army of Centaurs, whose head was Motaro, a large army of mutants, of whom Baraka was a member, and a much smaller army of Shokanites, of which Sheeva was a member while Kintaro was its new head after word of Goro's death in the 10th tournament reached them. When the attack started, Sub-zero, the younger brother of the ice ninja in the first MK movie, was caught off-guard, but decided to fight back quickly. He found Jax's army platoon by chance after killing several mutants and Centaurs and together they looked for human survivors. During their patrol, they ran into a mixed army of invaders and Sub-zero killed Kintaro by using the ice shower and shattering the statue. While this occurred, Sheeva was on a killing rampage against the humans while Liu, Johnny and Kitana had traveled into the Living Forest to search for a warrior who they were told could help them. That warrior turned out to be cyber Smoke, who was a metallic warrior built by Kahn as a series of living weapons. A living weapon's mission was to enter a realm after that realm had successfully resisted Kahn's attack for the purpose of annihilating it (i.e. Smoke's MK3 fatality). Smoke had developed a consciousness and had then absconded to the Living Forest to live alone rather than be used like that, so he always carried a hatred for Kahn. After Kintaro's death, Motaro decided he no longer wished to share the spoils of war with the Shokanites, so to keep his second-in-command happy, Shao Kahn decided to try to wipe the Shokanites out. Sheeva escaped the attempted genocide and then switched sides, siding with the humans as a result. As Liu, Johnny and Kitana took Smoke to Kahn's lair to confront him, Sonya killed Baraka on the streets by bludgeoning him with the end of her rifle. In the meantime, Scott returned as a specter by putting his soul on the line (Ala. Scorpion from MK : The Journey Begins) and interrupted the losing fight Sheeva was having against Motaro. Using his new powers as a specter, Scott destroyed Motaro and then asked Sonya to make sure Kahn could not find the Centaur this time. She, in turn, used a chainsaw to cut Motaro's arms, legs and head off, so by the time Kahn's forces found his remains, not enough was left to bring him back to life, so the Centaurs were gone from earth and Durak finally got his chance to hammer Motaro for trying to exterminate the Shokanites. Sonya was then pulled into Kahn's lair also because Shang Tsung had given orders to have her brought to him safely since he still wished to have her as his queen. Once there, Sonya traded places with a prisoner who was destined to die in a fight against Reptile so it would serve as entertainment for Kahn. While Sonya and Reptile killed each other by the spikes over the pit, Liu and friends reached the realm. Johnny, Kitana and Smoke held off Kahn's troops while Liu challenged Kahn himself. Liu proved to be no match for Kahn, so after watching both Johnny and Kitana die, Liu gave the order for Smoke to detonate Kahn's realm, taking with him every person there.

This particular story below is a crossover between my stories and Kazuya Mishima, who was Shao Kahn's human partner in Ashes Of The Phoenix. I will not tell you what happened in that story because you have to go read that first. It's for your own good. Kazuya's story was told in Ashes and then his sad fate was recounted in chapter 2 of Phoenix Reborn. This character was by far the deepest, most three-dimensional fictitious character I had ever encountered, so I just felt compelled to give his fate a second chance. His entire personality in Ashes was a mixture of hatred, determination and strength, so much so that he had lost the ability to feel. So being the only character that I haven't created that I still think about, even after all the time since I've read Ashes, Kazuya is included in this last story of the series. His story was a warning of what could easily happen when hatred invades the heart, a danger that everyone needs to be aware of in the real world. More than anything it's a warning to stay away from hatred, and also a reminder of how to love both others and one's self and that self-love is needed no matter how messed up the world is around us. That's what I believe the Mortal Kombat universe stands for, a warrior spirit which does not give in to wrong pressure. So this story is for all MK fans, those who see MK as something more than just a fight, and for any individual who has gotten screwed by life for doing the right thing. So all in all, this story should be read with those infamous words from the MK movie which work for the real world also - face your fear, fear your enemy and face yourself.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Black Abyss was as cold as he first remembered it when he arrived. How long ago that was he did not know. Sometimes he thought he could still hear his brother crying out after him to come back, though he knew that it was not possible. The inhabitants of the Black Abyss were cut off from all the souls in the other two divisions of the realm of the dead as well as those souls' guardians, so he knew his brother had to have returned to his Gray Kingdom sooner or later once the Guardians had released their grip on him. As much as he tried to bring himself to lock all emotions out, the feat seemed to be an impossible one. Scarcely an hour went by, or at least what felt like an hour in this abyss which was void of time, that he didn't think of his brother or the other countless faces that he had enslaved while plotting his strategies against the Shao Kahn. He thought to himself that it was all the better that his brother had not been allowed to have access to him as he didn't want others to waste their existence by only reflecting on the past. At least his brother had a purpose in this realm, unlike him. Interacting with the Tsathoggua Guardians had been painful, at first. They were everywhere when he had originally entered the Black Abyss of his own free will, tormenting him, restricting his arms and legs with their slimy and cold tentacles, talking all at once. He had been able to take it, though. He had never begged for mercy, he had never asked to be left alone. It had continued to the point where the Guardians almost seemed surprised by his omnipotence over the torture they endlessly subjected him to. When the immeasurable time passed, the Guardians began taking less interest in him, as if they were bored with him. Perhaps he did not amuse them by reacting as expected, he thought to himself, but this was a positive occurrence as well. Now he was left alone periodically because the Guardians wanted to spend more time with the more suitable inhabitants who were pulled into this abyss on an almost regular basis. All of them were forced inside, no one entered of his or her own free will, of course, he had been the first and only soul so far to undertake such an act. By leaving him alone, the Guardians made it possible for him to meditate, to contemplate about his life of 28 years and of his actions during that time. In this emotionless state of mind, the only painful experience was during the many times the faces of one of his many victims would appear in front of his eyes when he opened his eyes after meditating. The face would never utter a word, it would lock eyes with him for a few instants before vanishing. It was as if it knew that he had no company whatsoever in this realm, and it did not want to alleviate his punishment by talking to him.

He had his eyes closed at this moment, seated with his back straight on the black and slick substance which passed for a floor, when the subhuman voice of a Guardian interrupted him.

"Bored yet?", one Tsathoggua Guardian hissed from his left.

Kazuya Mishima opened his eyes, although he knew from experience that he would not be able to see his addresser.

"No", he calmly replied, without shaking his head or taking his eyes off the empty void he saw in front of him.

"Maybe we are", another Guardian from his right entered the conversation, "With _you_".

"And that concerns me how?", Kazuya still didn't shift his eyes.

"Our concerns are the same concerns of everyone in the Black Abyss", the original Guardian shot back.

"Everyone", a third Guardian speaking from an area over his own head added, "Even those who still have no business being here but like to pretend they do".

"If you have a problem with my presence, you're welcome to do something about it", Kazuya annoyed them by closing his eyes.

"Amusing, very much so", the second Guardian hissed.

"These former mortals are such an act to follow at times", the first Guardian went on.

"This is the first I've ever heard of you using sarcasm", Kazuya reopened his eyes, his head slightly shifting to his left.

"Your presence does not amuse us, former mortal", the third Guardian's voice seemed to rise, though Kazuya wasn't sure, "You have no business being here. The Black Abyss was created during the birth of time so it could house the souls which were evil beyond hope and repentance. It is not our purpose to be sheltering souls who wish to procrastinate taking responsibility for their actions in the realm of the living by not going to the Gray Kingdom as they should. You seek to obliterate your very existence by staying here indefinitely. That cannot be allowed".

"I am procrastinating nothing", Kazuya exhaled as he brought his face back towards its original position straight ahead, "No one who enters the Black Abyss may leave. I am here permanently".

"You do not belong here", the first Guardian barked back, "This is for souls who committed only evil acts throughout their entire time in the realm of the living for their own sake, for selfish reasons".

"You knew who I was when I was standing at the gate, did you not?" the former mortal asked, wishing he was left alone.

No answer.

"Did you not?", he repeated, still staring straight ahead.

"Perhaps", the second Guardian finally admitted.

"They why did you allow me to enter if you could see my state of mind at that time?", Kazuya asked further, "Unless you do not recognize repentance when you see it".

More silence.

"I proved to be a disappointing play object, didn't I? That is the reason you granted me passage in the first place, to have fun at my expense. How frustrating for you that this was not the case".

"No former mortal may speak to us in such a way", hissed the first Guardian.

A black, oily tentacle shot out of the shapeless mass to his left and wrapped tightly around Kazuya's throat. Not unexpectedly, his facial expression did not change, he didn't give in to the instinct of clawing at the tentacle. The annoying soul didn't even turn his face towards the Guardian as he was unfazed, and the surrounding Guardians could see it.

"You will vacate this abyss at once", the first Guardian went on, finally withdrawing the tentacle after seeing the lack of effect.

The tentacle was pulled back into the shapeless black mass and disappeared inside of it.

"Cannot do that", Kazuya flatly stated with a slight shake of the head.

"You do not have a choice", the third Guardian shot back.

"I think I do", he replied in a calmer fashion, "I think you are incapable of getting rid of inhabitants, although I doubt this was ever an inconvenience for you before".

"We will make your existence here as miserable as possible if you do not agree to leave", the second Guardian threatened.

"Do as you will", the same calm response that irritated them continued, "I can never risk putting myself in a position where I will be able to call a likeness of the devil which had possessed me. Any discomfort from you is secondary".

"A ridiculous reason for wanting to stay in the Black Abyss", the third Guardian commented.

"Perhaps to you", Kazuya answered.

"You are half correct", the first Guardian said in a somewhat calmer voice, "We cannot force you to return to the Gray Kingdom, but if that is your sole reason for staying here, perhaps there is a way we can all get what we want".

"Such as...", he waited for them to finish as he turned his face to the left again.

"We do have the power to return you to the realm of the living", the Guardian told him.

"Absolutely not!", Kazuya barked, turning his face back straight ahead, "Stop wasting my time!".

"Not to the realm from which you came", the same Guardian explained, "That is not allowed, but we could send your soul to a parallel dimension, one where the earth realm does not possess its inhabitants with the magic you used in your necromancy. As far as we know you will be unable to repeat your style of actions even if you desire to".

"You heard me", he pressed on, "If you do not have anything else to say, at least anything of importance, leave me be".

The Guardians did not like what they heard, but they said nothing else. They were planning a strategy among themselves to rid this abyss of the unamusing inhabitant.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Quan Chi approached the alter with an ever-speeding pace. He didn't even know why he was in a hurry. His master had waited several millennia, surely he could wait a few minutes more. Still, though, the mere thought of being able to free his messiah so they could both rule this world was one which made even him somewhat impatient.

Finally reaching the steps of the modest alter, Quan Chi promptly kneeled in front of it. Looking up, he rested his palms together and placed his hands in a perpendicular fashion to his stomach. It took only an instant before he was able to call his master. A face appeared on the top of the alter over the sorcerer's raised head, one which he recognized happily.

"Shinnok, the time is near", Quan Chi's voice carried a hint of the anticipation that had been plaguing him during his entire trip to this destination, "Now that Shao Kahn has been defeated your powers will be unmatched. The whole earth will be yours to consume".

"So I have felt his downfall", Shinnok's voice echoed in the sorcerer's mind, "But Kahn has been banished till the end of time. His captive souls were released as he was sent towards his destination. It would be impossible for me to reach him while he is in between universes".

"True", the sorcerer replied, "That is why we will not traffic with the Shao Kahn that we knew. I have found another earth realm for you and I have already crossed over into it, it is one whose version of the Kahn has been sent to another resting place after his death. This one's souls were freed while he was in the realm of the living before he was carried to the realm of the dead after being stripped of his powers. I am calling upon you from this new earth presently".

"When can you free me from this Black Abyss?", Shinnok's voice sounded more hopeful this time.

"As soon as you give your word, master", the alchemist grinned, "With Shao Kahn's power destroyed, nothing is keeping us from using my whole force to free you from that, ahem, eternal prison. One which will be eternal no more after tonight".

"And what of Rayden?", Shinnok demanded.

"Rayden has no power in the realm of the dead, master", Quan Chi was frustrated that he was forced to go over every detail for what felt like was the hundredth time, "We can use our armies to deal with him once you are here, but he has no say in what happens to you on your way to this world, this I promise you. And once the monster is reawakened, Rayden will be nothing more than an insect to be devoured like everyone else in this world".

"And you are sure you will free me and only me?", the master's questions became more annoying.

"Yes", the sorcerer tried to hide his impatience, and succeeded to only do so partially.

"Then do so, I await my freedom", at last Shinnok gave his blessing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Guardians were a persistent bunch, Kazuya knew that much. Which was why he wasn't surprised when they tried to ambush him as soon as he stood up after his meditation was over. A black tentacle wrapped around each of his ankles and each of his wrists, with a fifth tentacle gripping his neck to force his head steady. The former mortal didn't even have to guess where they planned to take him, he already knew. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a grayish portal large enough for a person to slip through opening approximately thirty yards ahead. At the pace that the Guardians were carrying him towards it, they'd reach it in about half a minute, maybe less.

"You will leave this abyss, one way or the other", one of the Guardians who was carrying him hissed.

"You have no reason to worry", a second Guardian added, so as to try to keep their subject from resisting, "It is a portal to another universe, one where no mortals are capable of magic, as far as we know. You will be unable to use your wizardry there".

Just fifteen yard to go before he would find himself being hurled into the portal, into another mortal world, a world which wasn't ready for him.

"I don't think so", Kazuya whispered.

Before any of his restraining Guardians knew it, he shifted his right wrist at a sharp angle and pulled his right arm towards his chest. The tactic worked, the Guardian who was holding on to that wrist saw that limb being freed from its grasp. As the remaining Guardians tried to compensate, Kazuya sent his right wrist into the black, oily mass which was behind the tentacle which held on to his left wrist. That one released his second limb as a result, although the former mortal thought that it was the shock of having a subject resist which surprised the Guardian enough to have the grip loosen. Kazuya seriously doubted that any blow could've injured these oily Guardians.

With both wrists, he gripped the tentacle which grasped his throat and pushed the tentacle away from him while pulling his torso away from it at the same time. As he felt the pressure on his neck weakening, he kicked out with both legs, the impact softening the strength of the two restrainers which had a hold of his ankles. With a final snap from both his arms and legs, the three remaining tentacles saw their respective limbs slipping out of their grasp.

Hearing only a hiss from all five Guardians, Kazuya didn't stop to look as his feet landed on the slick ground and he bolted away from the portal as fast as he could under the conditions of this environment. The fact that he still wore his boots was the only thing that kept him from slipping on the ground during his hasty retreat.

"You never give up, do you?", he spoke up as he turned his face towards what he believed would be his pursuers.

Except that the Guardians were not giving chase. In fact, they didn't even stay together. They dispersed instead, two going towards the left and three heading towards the right, but not a single one came after him. So Kazuya stopped running from the portal and turned around to look at it, as well as to watch the direction that the Guardians were heading. He remembered that these creatures were not the kind to stay in a fight with a subject who put up resistance. Instead, they would wait with inhuman patience until he was more vulnerable and they would try to push him through the portal then. Kazuya told himself that it just meant that he wouldn't be allowed to let his guard down, ever. He just didn't know if that was humanly possible.

He walked a good distance away until he came back to rest on his knees and began another meditation state. Looking past his right shoulder, he could see that he was far enough from the grayish portal that it only appeared to be a quarter the size of a human fingernail.

The image he saw in his mind was an unexpected one indeed once his eyes were closed. The first indication that something was different was the voice Kazuya heard once he had been meditating for only a short time. A deep voice, almost sounding like a loud whisper, spoke to him in his mind's eye.

"Can you hear me?", the distant voice asked.

Kazuya did not answer as he would have when addressed by one of the infinite number of Guardians in the Black Abyss. He did, however, manage to communicate with the being in the same fashion by which he was hearing the message. He heard himself answering the question even though he never opened his mouth.

"Yes", he flatly stated, "Who are you? And where?".

A bolt of lightning appeared just a few yard in front of him in his mind's eye. Kazuya watched it intently as the electricity then expanded and a man was soon standing on that very spot. The visitor who was communicating with him telepathically wore white, the clothes matching the color of his long hair as several strands of snow-white hair emerged from under the straw hat.

"I am known by many names", the visitor informed him with a bow, "You may call me Rayden, though".

"Rayden", Kazuya saw himself talking to this being by opening his mouth this time, although the whole scene was still only playing in his mind as he was kneeling, "The thunder deity?".

"That is correct", Rayden gave a slight smile.

"Why are you here?", Kazuya's curiosity overwhelmed all his other questions at the moment as he saw himself standing at his full height.

"I need your help in protecting the earth realm", the deity explained without any hesitation, "You are the only one I can turn to".

"You must be out of your mind!", Kazuya turned his face away from the thunder god, "I am the last person the earth needs to see".

"No", Rayden corrected by shaking his head, "You are needed. A force of almost unimaginable power is about to be unleashed from this Black Abyss in order to attack the realm to strip it of all life and soul".

Kazuya did not answer, only stared back at him.

"My oldest adversary was sent here after his defeat at my hands", the deity explained, "But one of his student sorcerers is about to help him break free".

"I do not believe you have all the facts", it was Kazuya who shook his head, "No one who enters the Black Abyss may leave, unless of course the Guardians try to kick that soul out. Before me, that has never happened, and I doubt it ever will after me".

"Shinnok has found a way to break through the barriers", Rayden's voice carried the slightest amount of fear, "His sorcerer, Quan Chi, is still alive in the earth realm and can make his escape a possible one".

The last statement got Kazuya's attention.

"How?", he asked.

"That is not important. What is important is that he will leave this abyss behind unless he is stopped".

"How can you turn to me for help after I've brought the apocalypse to your world? Do you not know who I am?", the former mortal's mouth curled as he remembered his actions during the partnership with Shao Kahn.

"I know who you are", Rayden nodded, "You should know first off that it was not my world you were dealing with when you became allies with the Shao Kahn".

Kazuya's eyebrows lifted as he nonverbally asked Rayden to explain.

"I am not the Rayden from your earth, my earth is one from a parallel universe to yours", the god said.

"You're not Rayden?", the new details began confusing the young Mishima.

"That I am", the deity sighed, "I simply am not the Rayden that you knew. I do have a world to protect, though, a world that came under attack by Shao Kahn, just like yours did. Except in my case you were not the Kahn's ally and his destruction came via another fashion".

"If you were trying to baffle me you just succeeded".

"I am sorry, that is not my intention", Rayden sounded patient, "There are many different parallels of every realm in existence. Every realm has approximately the same mortals, as well as the same deities. Every one of those parallels also has a different place for the dead. Yours, for example, has three stages, mainly Paradise, the Gray Kingdom and the Black Abyss. Mine, on the other hand, has only one stage where everyone is sent after death. The amount of evil intent in a person's life, however, decides how much power, if any, the person's soul will have, so the more selfless a person was in life, the more power he or she will have over someone who was evil. Do you follow so far?".

Kazuya only nodded once.

"Good", the deity gave a friendly smile, "My earth came under attack by the Shao Kahn at about the same time that yours did, except that my invader did not have help from a mortal with a misguided view of saving the world".

Kazuya did not feel flattered after hearing his own description, he only maintained the steady stare into Rayden's eyes.

"Both our Shao Kahns were defeated. Yours was banished till the end of time, mine was sent to the realm of the dead where he is constantly tormented by the souls that he had stolen".

"Great", the young Mishima exhaled, "May both realms live in peace now that the monsters are gone from them".

"It is not that simple, I'm afraid", the urgency in Rayden's voice returned, "Although defeating Shao Kahn was a tremendous accomplishment for my realm's mortals, it created a second problem. The Shao Kahn's predecessor from your realm in evil was named Shinnok. My realm's history contained him also, but his powers have long been diminished after the millennia that he spent in the realm of the dead. My Shinnok is powerless now, as is my Quan Chi who exists in the realm of the dead with him, but yours is not despite all the time he had spent in the Black Abyss, that is the extent of his evil. The Quan Chi who occupied your earth realm with his master was never killed like my version was, so after my Shao Kahn's defeat, your Quan Chi has crossed through into my universe because your Shinnok saw his chance to come back into the realm of the living, even if it is not the realm from which he was banished".

Both individuals locked eyes in silence before Rayden continued.

"Your Shinnok will try to return to my earth at the exact moment that Shao Kahn was defeated in my history so he can try to absorb all the souls which will have been released from the Kahn after his death. Attempting to steal the souls from someone who has been banished till the end of time cannot succeed, but stealing those from someone who has been killed can. This will make Shinnok infinitely more powerful than he was back when first defeated. In order to stop him from ever reaching my realm, I need someone who will be able to intercept him here, in the Black Abyss itself".

"Which makes no sense", Kazuya pointed out vehemently, "Why will you not stop him, then? If you can come inside the abyss, then you can fight this monster".

"Deity or no, I cannot enter the Black Abyss", Rayden looked apologetic, "I am merely communicating with you from the celestial palace, you can only see and hear me, that does not mean I am right there in front of you".

Kazuya only sighed, still unsure of what to think about his visitor.

"I _do_ know what you did with the Shao Kahn in your realm", the deity pressed, "But I also know why".

No answer from the person he was addressing, just the same blank stare. If he had not been a deity, Rayden thought to himself that he would've found that stare very annoying at first and downright scary on the long run.

"I know that your reasons were pure", the god went on, "Which is why you do not belong here, the Guardians are correct in that respect. But this is not about that. I am here to ask for your help because first, you are the only one who can help me and, second, because I think you want to. Nothing could make your guilty conscience feel better than to save one world after you tried to destroy another".

"Nothing can make my conscience feel better", Kazuya repeated almost angrily, "The second half of your statement is meaningless".

"Are you sure?", Rayden lifted his right arm and touched Kazuya's forehead with the edge of his fingers.

A flood of memories invaded Kazuya's mind. He saw moving images, an advanced civilization with tall buildings, even taller than those he had seen in the metropolitan cities in his life. He viewed flying vehicles sailing through the air between the buildings under a bright blue sky. It was a world full of life.

Then Kazuya saw the monster. He had never seen anything like it. The closest he could describe it was a red worm which stood upright with arms and a hideous face, and this worm was almost as tall as the skyscrapers that he remembered from his earth. The monster inhaled and, with that action alone, thousands of souls were stripped from human bodies and pulled into its mouth the same way that an evil soul is pulled into the Black Abyss. The bodies of the soulless humans remained alive, however, despite the fact they looked nothing like their former selves. They turned into thin, grotesque zombie-like creatures which could neither think nor remember. Young Mishima next saw the great buildings crumbling as destruction engulfed the entire realm. As the whole scene faded from his eyes, the last face Kazuya saw was that belonging to the one which Rayden had called Shinnok. The ominous face of the red devil only returned his stare, dangerously waiting for his second chance to inflict the same damage again.

Kazuya's eyes snapped open as the vision finally ended. Rayden was standing in front of him like before as the deity waited for his reaction to the things he had just seen. The stern expression on young Mishima's face promised that he had changed his point of view so that it agreed with Rayden's.

"The giant you saw is called Chthon", the god explained, "My Shinnok utilized it to separate the human soul from the flesh. It is a weapon of immense capability, as you witnessed. Chthon is asleep now, but your Shinnok can and will reawaken it if he reaches the earth realm once more. Everything that you saw in your hallucination happened in my realm thousands of years ago. Shinnok's actions led to its destruction, and it was a long time afterwards that Homo Sapiens walked the earth again".

"He has to be stopped", Kazuya thought out loud, pleasing the thunder god, "How do I do that?".

"You will know when Shinnok attempts his escape", Rayden promised with a satisfied smile, "And perhaps afterwards I could convince you to leave this place behind and to take your place in the Gray Kingdom as you deserve".

"I will do what I have to", the former mortal declared, "Foiling Shinnok's plan is all that you need to be concerned about. I do not want to see you afterwards, ever".

He had indirectly told the thunder god not to bother trying to convince him to leave the Black Abyss after his mission was completed. Understanding the hint, a partially-disappointed Rayden bowed his head and turned into several sparks of electricity before vanishing.

Kazuya opened his eyes. He was still on his knees in his meditating state.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

It wasn't long after the incident that, from inside the Black Abyss, Kazuya heard a roar as one of its occupants screamed out, but for once it wasn't a scream of agony, but one of triumph. The inhabitant roared as red bolts of lightning began to emerge from one direction of the abyss. Kazuya's attention was diverted towards the red lights which appeared in the usually darkened abyss as he made his way in its direction. He saw the demon warrior dressed in red, the one that Rayden had called Shinnok, as red electricity covered that one's entire body. Shinnok began roaring louder as some of the invading electricity left his body and slammed into one of the invisible walls of the Black Abyss. A hole began forming in the invisible wall, much like the grayish portal that had been created earlier by the Guardians in the hope of forcing Kazuya through it. Before the newly-produced portal was large enough for the rebellious inmate to step into, though, the Guardians swarmed around the demon. Tentacles flew from every direction imaginable as they eagerly wrapped around his limbs. Friction created by the red lighting exploded every time a tentacle tried to wrap around a limb, forcing every aggressive tentacle back.

Amid the cautiously retreating tentacles, Shinnok quickly moved towards the ever-expanding gateway. Kazuya could see that the inmate desired to leave this place as much as he wanted to stay inside of it. Not wanting to let him re-enter a second earth realm, the young Mishima sprang into action.

With the red demon only half a dozen steps away from his salvation, something unexpected happened for both him and his surrounding Guardians. Kazuya slammed into Shinnok from behind, sending the other inhabitant of the abyss against a Guardian. Shinnok crashed face-first into the shapeless Guardian and bounced off, turning around and eager to find out who dared interfere with his plans. As his eyes registered the new opponent in front of him, Kazuya twisted his own upper body to the right. Twisting back to the left, the back of Kazuya's left knuckles crashed into Shinnok's face, sending the demon's upper body back with a yell. Before the rebellious inhabitant was able to strike back, Kazuya's right fist delivered a second blow, this one a swift uppercut to the target's chin. Shinnok's face snapped towards what was the sky in the abyss with a satisfying snapping sound as his head hurt. The tentacles around him took advantage of his debilitated state by swiftly wrapping him in between each other. Because of their second attempt, however, an even more violent reaction took place between their tentacles and the red lightning around Shinnok's body. The explosion sent many of the surrounding Guardians in several directions as some of the resulting electricity struck the expanding portal.

That is when all hell broke loose.

The only memory that Kazuya could've compared it to was the chaos he had felt aboard the doomed commercial airliner when he had teleported Bruce Irvin out of it after his assassin had accidentally caused it to crash. The Black Abyss felt like the inside of an airplane after someone had shot one of the windows out. Kazuya felt a tremendous pull towards the newly-created grayish portal. He gasped as he realized what was going on and desperately dropped his upper body horizontally against the ground to reduce the pull of the portal. It was to no avail, he kept being helplessly dragged towards the opening. He thought it was ironic that the Guardians had succeeded by accident something that they had attempted on purpose several times before.

Turning his head towards the portal as he came ever closer to it, Kazuya saw a glimpse of Shinnok as the demon yelled and was then sucked into it. Young Mishima didn't know what waited for him on the other side of the portal, but if it was anything other than the Black Abyss, then he knew he could be a threat to whoever was there. Kazuya clawed at the ground, still seeing no effect as the portal was now a dozen steps away at most. His screams didn't help either. If he had been any of the other members of the abyss, the Guardians would've most likely fought to keep him there. But he already knew that they were happy to see him being pulled into the accidental portal, so no assistance could've been expected from them.

"NO!", Kazuya screamed as he tried to drive the heels of his feet into the ground also, "YOU CANNOT MAKE MELEAVE!".

He didn't hear any responses.

"RAYDEEEEN!", he yelled out in desperation, calling out to the god who had been responsible for putting him in this situation in the hopes that the deity might've intervened on his behalf.

No one was around to answer him because the last thing he heard was himself screaming some more before he was pulled into the center of the whirlwind.

His skin was on fire, or at least that's how it felt. He couldn't stop screaming as he was hurled violently into open air. Although his eyes were open the entire time, he couldn't see anything around him once he was past the portal itself. Kazuya felt his body falling towards some gravitational force as every bone in him felt like it was about to break from the intense pressure on his body.

Just when he thought his form would shatter under the strain, he crashed against a ground. The impact did not hurt him as much as it should have, considering that he had been falling for almost a minute. His mind did not ponder about that fact, however, because he was still trying to recover from the dwindling pain which afflicted him from head to toe.

"Aaaaaggggh!", Kazuya gasped, trying to inhale as much of the cool breeze into his lungs as possible as he rose on his hands and knees.

His head was still facing downwards in the daylight, so he didn't see who was around him, he only heard the first person speaking.

"You...", a man's voice sounded terrified, "You... You are evil! Evil".

Kazuya only gasped further as he began looking up towards the source of the words. He wouldn't have known what to say even if he had instantly regained the ability to speak.

"How did you arrive into our world?", the man continued, "We are doomed if you are here! I can feel the evil all around you, as well as inside of you! You are evil! YOU ARE EVIL! YOU CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO...".

"Hey, like shut up, will you?", another female voice interrupted the man as he had begun screaming, "Looking out for these mutants is difficult enough".

Kazuya tried to turn his head towards the new source, but was unable to find the woman who had spoken up.

"YOU HAVE TO BE DESTROYED!", the man continued screaming, "YOU ARE..".

"I said shut up!", the woman snapped, interrupting him again, "Either you do it voluntarily or I'm gonna show you what a broken jaw feels like!".

The threat had done it, the man didn't say anything further.

Kazuya finally turned his head around far enough to see who had voiced the promise of bodily harm if the loud man had continued. While still on his hands and knees, he saw an athletic young woman with shiny blond hair and dressed in a neon-green halter and sweatpants of the same color along with white sneakers and a wristwatch wrapped around her left wrist. She had her right fingers wrapped around the handle of a semiautomatic pistol and the middle of both her forearms were wrapped in thick and bloody three-inch wide bandages. She approached him with heavy, painful steps until she was within an arm's length of Kazuya's form. Looking down at him, her eyes locked with his as she extended her left hand down at him. Not knowing who she was, although she looked very familiar, and not caring at the moment, he accepted her offer by gripping her left hand with his right one. She pulled him up to his feet as new pain attacked his ribcage as soon as he stood up straight.

"What just happened?", she asked him.

"I wish I knew", Kazuya replied as he looked down upon her to maintain their eye contact since she was only slightly shorter than him.

The deep scar on her left cheek was one of the first things he noticed.

"Were you...", she chose her words carefully, "Where did you just come from? From the sky?".

"Yes", he answered, realizing he couldn't have clarified the situation further.

"But you're here", she broke eye contact with him as she visually surveyed the area they were standing in, "On earth".

She turned back to look up into his eyes again as she holstered her weapon.

"And you're alive", she finally said.

Kazuya's heard sank with disappointment when he heard her last three words. It was the last thing he wanted.

"By the way, I never had the pleasure", she extended her right hand towards him.

"My name is Mishima", he told her as he gripped her hand with his own, "Kazuya Mishima".

He held his breath to see if any signs of shock or fear were going to appear on her face when he mentioned his name. To his surprise, her facial expression did not change.

"Name's Sonya Blade", she promptly replied, gripping his right hand back, "Nice to meet you".

"I do not know how I arrived into this realm", Kazuya explained, "But this is not my world".

"Well, where are you from?", Sonya asked as she let go of his right hand and walked back to the man who had been complaining about Kazuya's evil state as soon as he had crashed against the ground.

"I am from earth as well", Kazuya looked up at the sky and rubbed his forehead, "But it was a different one than this".

"How so?", was her next question as she squatted next to the man she had threatened only a short time ago.

That man was lying on the ground, perhaps as if he was injured.

"Can you stand up?", Sonya asked him in a professional manner, leaving no emotion in her voice.

The man nodded in response, so she gripped one of his upper arms with her right hand and wrapped her left arm around his upper back to help him get back up on his feet.

"Sorry about before", she explained as the man began rising to his feet, "You were just making too much noise and I was afraid that one of these mutant patrols might've found us".

"No hard feelings", the man answered as Sonya released him after he was able to stand under his own power.

"Good", she patted him on the back, "I didn't see you coming close to me, guess I was distracted by our flying visitor there".

She pointed at Kazuya as she made her last comment.

"It shows that I'm not being as careful as I should be", she continued, "But stick with me and all three of us may make it out of here in one piece".

"Maybe I'll just do that", the man replied, pressing his left forearm into his stomach.

"Name's Sonya, by the way", she finally stated to him.

"Reiko", the man nodded once.

"Mutant patrols?", Kazuya repeated as he approached the pair, "Might I ask you what exactly is going on here?".

"Man, you really aren't from this earth, are you?", she looked at the new visitor.

"That is what I said", Kazuya was eager to hear an explanation.

"We're under attack", Sonya's voice almost sank to a whisper, "Shao Kahn's been hammering us with his armies".

xxxxxxxxxxx

Mark felt uneasy as he and his associates stood around their boss. It wasn't just the occurrences of the past day that had him feeling nervous, although they didn't help. His new boss was now making deals with demons which weren't unlike the ones who led the offensive against the planet. Killing humans came easy enough for Mark and his friends, working for the Black Dragons demanded no less, but for the first time, Mark found himself wondering if his superior had been wise. He looked at Jarek with a concerned look on his face.

"We still have time to jet this place and screw this whole deal", Mark advised.

"I said be quiet!", Jarek snapped back at him, "If you guys can't shut up for just a few minutes then you should all go outside and wait for the arrival there".

The idea didn't sound bad to Mark or any of the other employees. After exchanging looks, they reasoned they'd be happier outside rather than being inside to risk any temper tantrums this new demon could throw. Quan Chi paced the floor of the humble shrine as he watched most of the humans leaving the place and Jarek remained the only other occupant in the room a few steps away. It was perhaps because his visitor did not know the power linked with the devil Shinnok, Quan Chi thought to himself, since it would've been impossible for any mortal not to be anxious once he or she knew of Shinnok's true might.

"Stop being so damn paranoid", Jarek scolded, "Your boss will be here".

"Do not take that tone with me. You are still a servant to us", the sorcerer shot back.

He might have answered at such a tone of voice with physical violence before. No mortal had spoken to him in such a way for a very long time. But the apprehension he felt while waiting for Shinnok's arrival prompted him to be much more tolerant of others, at least for now. So Quan Chi wished that his master would get there already so he could start acting like his old self again.

Just as that last thought had entered his mind, a red burst of electricity appeared on top of the shrine. The form turned into the silhouette of an adult man before Shinnok himself was seen standing on his own alter. The first thing the demon from the Black Abyss did was lock eyes with the sorcerer who had freed him from his eternal damnation. Quan Chi smiled back as he bowed his head low, irritated more than ever that Jarek did not copy his reaction.

"It is like old times, master", the sorcerer's voice erupted in joy.

"Yes", Shinnok smiled back as he descended from the alter and walked towards his rescuer.

"Allow me to introduce Jarek", Quan Chi raised his head and pointed behind him, "It is he who will show us to the resources we need while our power is still limited at the present time".

The red demon only stared at Jarek and briefly grunted.

"Nice to meet you too", Jarek's face registered disgust.

"He is the leader of the most feared criminal organization in this realm", the sorcerer continued.

"The Black Dragons, at your service", Jarek bowed his upper body down as he smiled and rested his right forearm against his stomach in a sarcastic copy of Quan Chi's earlier action.

"Let us get to it then", Shinnok didn't want to waste any time, "Much work needs to get done and Shao Kahn's scheduled destruction is not long from now".

"Not until I hear your part of the agreement from your own lips", Jarek stood back up, his face no longer bearing the sneering grin, "After my organization's resources help you and you become king of the world, you'll destroy every one of my competitors".

"That was the agreement", the demon assured, "Only after I get what I am after".

"No, that's what I heard from snow-white here on your behalf", Jarek pointed at Quan Chi, "I wanna hear you promise me".

"I give you my word", Shinnok satisfied him, "Shall we leave already?".

"This way", the smile reappeared on Jarek's face as he pointed to the exit, "The cars are outside".

"Cars?", Shinnok repeated.

"I had tried to explain to him, my lord", the sorcerer pointed out, "He has his syndicate employees waiting to take us anywhere we need to go with land-roving vehicles. Little does he know".

"Land-rovers? Your machines can't even fly?", Shinnok seemed insulted.

"Please, I could get the cars to take us to our private jet", Jarek countered, "We do have pilots available, despite all the bullshit taking place outside".

"We do not need your petty machines, mortal", the demon, "I will take us to Chthon's palace with a mere thought".

"Whose palace?", Jarek shivered involuntarily at the name.

"My...", Shinnok smiled, "My pet".

"Your pet", the Black Dragon leader repeated.

"Yes, the one who can steal souls", the demon smiled, "Like this".

Without another word, Shinnok pointed his right index finger at Jarek. A flame shot out of the edge of his finger and struck the mortal's torso. The heat from the projected fire alone would've been enough to melt an ordinary human, but Shinnok seemed unaffected despite his closeness to the projectile. Jarek only had enough time to let out one, short yell before his charred body crumbled on the ground. Satisfied, Shinnok raised his left hand with the palm facing the remains and concentrated. Jarek's soul was pulled out of his remains and, instead of rising towards the heavens, it was drawn in the demon's direction. With a second, ear-piercing scream, this time emanating from Jarek's soul, the criminal's spirit was swallowed by Shinnok. The demon felt better already, although the acquisition of one soul was only a small fraction of the power he had felt back when he had lost his battle against Rayden in the previous earth realm.

"Never trust a demon", Shinnok grinned as he turned away from Jarek's remains and addressed his sorcerer, who appeared amused.

"Come", the demon ordered as he pointed to Quan Chi as he was ready to teleport the sorcerer and himself to his desired destination.

Jarek's charred remains stirred. Rather than stay on the floor as a burned mess, the burned parts came together into a solid mass and a body then rose from the floor until it stood. Instead of Jarek, though, the new result was a skeleton-thin zombie which stared at the demon and the sorcerer with a blank look on its face.

A red cloud appeared out of both Shinnok's palms. Before it began engulfing both him and Quan Chi, though, as he had expected, a lightning bolt shot through the roof of the alter and submerged the demon and the sorcerer inside of it. Shinnok screamed out in outrage since he already knew who was responsible for such an act.

"RAYDEN!", the demon yelled.

Mark and other Black Dragon bodyguards ran into the room from outside after hearing the commotion and stood all around the zombie which used to be Jarek. None of them understood the magical net which held the two people, though. The only thing they saw and heard was Shinnok howling in anger as he shot bolts of red electricity into the net in an attempt to break through it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Baraka headed towards the long line of humanoid slaves who carried equipment and raw materials towards their destination. The nomad grunted in disgust and anger as he overpassed the first slave. That person paid no attention to the larger mutant as he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead in an effort to stay on his feet while hauling the heavy box on his shoulders. From a few feet ahead of the slave, Baraka heard the captive behind him whispering to himself. Desperate to have some fun at someone else's expense, the mutant stopped and turned around.

"Say something?", he grinned, bearing down on the man behind him as he stood over a foot taller.

The slave only shook his head as his wide eyes met Baraka's.

"Strange", the mutant kept grinning, proudly showing off his teeth, "I thought you had. It wouldn't be an insult towards me, now would it?".

The man shook his head stronger.

"I think it was", Baraka raised his right arm above the level of his own head in an attempt to strike with the blade which protruded out of his forearm.

Before he was able to deliver the blow, a familiar female voice interrupted him by calling his name. The nomad turned around without killing the terrified slave as he watched Mileena approaching. The masked servant of Kahn's in the purple one-piece suit and matching gloves and boots walked haughtily towards him, happy with herself that she was one of the few individuals who could still get his attention by calling upon him only once.

"Greetings, fellow servant", Baraka stood in place and bowed his head with his arms rested on either of his sides.

He didn't know how, but he was sure she was smiling behind the mask. The slave only stood next to the mutant who had been trying to kill him only a moment ago, not knowing whether to be thankful for the woman's interference because none of Kahn's servants had a reputation for being merciful towards his slaves.

"Are you done wasting time?", Mileena scolded in a teasing voice once she stood in front of the nomad.

It was then that she finally turned her attention towards the immobile slave next to them.

"You may go", she waved with her left hand, trying to get rid of the inconvenience of not being alone.

"Nah!", Baraka grinned, "I heard him, he insulted our Kahn".

Before the slave had a chance to deny the accusation, the mutant gripped him by the back of the neck and threw him face-first towards the ground. The humanoid let go of his cargo, crashed down flat on his stomach and then felt the nomad's left foot crushing the back of his neck.

"What should the penalty be?", Baraka returned his grin towards Mileena, ignoring the struggling man below his foot.

"That is up to you to decide", she added from under the mask, "But we have more urgent matters to attend to, so make the penalty a quick one".

"Urgent matters indeed", the nomad sounded sarcastic, "They better be after I was dragged away from my fun on the earth realm. Those natives are so much fun to play with".

"It is", she told him, disregarding the gasps from the slave on the ground, "Since our prototype has absconded, master wants as many more like him as possible to replace his duties. We need some living weapons against earth especially now".

"Why now?", the nomad was genuinely surprised, "We are winning".

"Did you not hear?", Mileena informed him, "The Centaurs have abandoned their part in the master's offensive against earth, most likely because of Motaro's death, and master is either unable to locate Motaro's remains or is unable to revive him this time".

"Not good", Baraka hissed to himself, pressing his foot further into the slave's neck to stifle the annoying noise that one kept making.

"Exactly", Mileena agreed, "Which is why you are needed to oversee the new project of building new living weapons. Master Kahn gave that order just before he left this realm, no one knows where he went, not even Shang Tsung".

"I see", the nomad told himself, "So it is a good reason after all".

With that, Baraka lifted his left foot off the slave's neck and, even before that one was able to breath easier, sent his left blade into the humanoid's upper back, severing the spine. The slave sputtered blood out of his mouth as his head, arms and legs waved violently on the ground. Baraka then stopped all movement from him by swinging his right blade downward on his neck and severing his head. The nomad raised his bloody left blade in front of his face and began licking the blood off it with a passion although it was known that nomads such as himself did not use blood as a necessary nutrient. Seeing the invitations, Mileena pulled down her facemask and revealed her own mutant teeth from behind it. She jumped up and embraced the much larger mutant and they passionately kissed, some of the blood from Baraka's mouth passing to hers.

"I do so love these quality times we share together", Baraka grinned as he momentarily pulled his bloody mouth away from hers.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"We've been under attack for some time now", Sonya explained to her new comrades, "But I have a feeling that things may just be starting to turn in our favor".

"What makes you say that?", Kazuya asked as he watched her comb the surrounding streets and buildings for any signs of movement.

"I've just taken out the chief four-legs", she gave a wide grin while her eyes were still canvassing the area, "Well, not me exactly, but a friend did. I just made sure that punk Kahn couldn't revive him".

"Really?", Reiko asked in his own turn as he voluntarily stayed close to the two others around him, "Kahn can revive the dead?".

"Yep", she went on, "But he won't be with Motaro, I saw to that. And without Motaro, the entire Centaur army leaves Kahn's invasion force. A point for us, to say the least".

"Was that the decapitated Centaur who was missing his legs and arms that I passed a few blocks back?", Reiko pointed behind him.

"That's him, or at least was", Sonya confirmed, "I'd like to see Kahn bring that piece of meat back from the dead, huh?".

All three individuals found shelter behind a crumbling wall and temporarily sat down next to it, especially since Reiko seemed to be tiring rather quickly. Kazuya was busy inspecting Sonya as she checked the ammunition in her pistol, for the third time, when he finally remembered the reason she looked so familiar. It wasn't long before she noticed his stare.

"You see something you like?", she questioned in a surprisingly friendly tone.

"I just recalled where I knew you from", he admitted, "Lieutenant Sonya Blade was busy leading one of the surviving army platoons against my syndicate in my world. I remember seeing you through my enchanted mirrors".

"Ah, famous in every place", she smiled.

"Well, it was said that this lieutenant had a heart of stone and treated everyone around her as mere objects and tools, nothing more", Kazuya continued.

"Well, it's nice to be appreciated", her tone became more sarcastic as she glanced by the side of the wall.

"That is only what was said about her", the young Mishima corrected, "Not about you".

"Why would someone who is defending this world be fighting against you before you came here?", Reiko shot back at him.

There was a moment of silence as Sonya realized the question made a lot of sense.

"Good point", her eyes turned cold as she gripped the handle of her weapon and looked at Kazuya.

Before the young Mishima could even think of what to say, Reiko's scream interrupted them. The dark-haired man let out a yell as he pointed behind them both. Kazuya and Sonya turned around to see a pack of approximately twenty 7-foot tall mutants, most of them with bloodied blades. The invaders growled and inhaled air aggressively as they slowly approached the three humans with their blades raised horizontally in front of their chest. Every mutant wore a broad smile on his face, remembering how easy these earth natives were to cut apart on their razor-sharp blades. Sonya was quick to raise her firearm at arm's length in front of her face. Kazuya lifted both arms in front of his chest and lower face as he stood ready in his fighting stance. Reiko appeared scared as he kept moving restlessly behind the pair.

"This should cut down the odds, not to mention their grins", Sonya commented.

She pulled back on the trigger with both speed and ferocious accuracy. The pack of mutants began screaming, most of them yelling because they were impaled by 9 millimeter bullets, but some howling as they charged over their wounded comrades to reach the three natives. In the few, brutal seconds that it took Sonya to empty all twenty rounds in the pistol, only six mutants were left standing. She charged ahead with the blank weapon still in her right grip as the closed the distance between her and the six invaders. From ten yards away from the charging mutants, she somersaulted into the air as she curled her body into a ball. While in the air and coming back down on her feet, she first threw the empty handgun towards the first mutant in the pack. The steel and plastic firearm spun through the air and struck that lead mutant on the forehead. The struck mutant shrieked as his head was thrown backwards from the blow and he found himself falling on his back. The large gash on his forehead would not have constituted a mortal wound, but three of the five surviving mutants then stepped on him on their rush to be the first to get the humans. The mutant screamed further as he felt his 300-pound comrades bruising his spinal cord with every step and he didn't get back up once the charge was over.

The second mutant in the pack met Sonya as she turned upside-down on her hands. Her ankles wrapped on either side of his chest, just under both his armpits, and she legtossed him over her in a perfect semicircle. The mutant screamed as he found himself being hurled in that semicircle and then crashed back-first against the ground behind his female human opponent. As he gasped and tried diligently to climb back to his feet, the mutant saw the male human running towards him in order to team up with the female fighter. Kazuya rushed past the fallen second mutant on his way to reach Sonya's position, but first turned around long enough to deliver a swift kick to the downed mutant's chin. That one's face snapped towards the blue sky as he saw stars and was knocked unconscious.

Sonya shifted the majority of her body weight on her left foot as she turned to her left. Her right leg shot up as the knee was bent and it straightened in the middle of the swing. Her right ankle crashed into the third mutant's jaw as that one staggered towards his own right under the blow. The mutant saw her following him, ready to deliver more punishment, so he spread his arms wide before swinging both blades horizontally. Two 5-foot long slashes covered the area in front of his chest as his arms crisscrossed, but the human had restrained herself from getting too close to him. Both blades met air as Sonya dropped down on her left knee and sent her right leg sweeping the area in front of her just inches higher than the ground. Her right ankle met the ankles of the third mutant and that invader shrieked as he crashed down on his left side. Before he was able to stand back up, Sonya rose on her knees and gripped his throat with her left hand. Pushing forward with a groan, she shoved his neck backwards until the mutant was lying on his back. As she saw him lifting his arms to attempt another strike, she straightened her left arm as she positioned her 140-pound body on top of his to keep him down. Turning her right hand into a fist, Sonya delivered a jab into his eyes. The mutant's attention was obliterated momentarily from that blow, but he kept fighting. A second punch with her right fist in between his eyes stunned him enough so that a third similar swift punch knocked him out of the fight.

Kazuya, in the meantime, bent his left knee and crouched on it as he sent his right leg in a thrusting attack against the fourth mutant. The bottom of his right foot slammed into that mutant's left knee and the invader howled as his knee bent in the opposite of its natural direction. The mutant kept yelling as he gripped his broken left knee with his left hand. Taking advantage of that one's distraction, Kazuya delivered a punch with his right fist into the stomach of the fifth mutant. As he did, he caught a glimpse of the sixth mutant running past him, most probably to either attack Sonya or Reiko, but Kazuya could not worry about him. With his attention on the fifth invader, he uppercut that one with his left fist. The mutant's face shot upwards, only to have his body point back downwards towards the ground as Kazuya sent a third right punch into his stomach. As the mutant bent forward under the third blow, the human swung the outer part of his right fist downward into the back of the invader's head, knocking the mutant down on his hands and knees. Kazuya then gripped the back of the invader's neck with his right hand and jumped on top of the mutant's back, pressing his knees into that one's lower back. The human's weight, along with his forward thrust, sent the mutant's face accelerating downwards until his eyes crashed into the ground and he saw stars. Kazuya got off the fifth mutant's back and stood in front of the fourth mutant, who was still grasping a broken knee with his left hand while swinging wildly with his right blade. The mutant swung downward with his right blade, meeting air. The human gripped his right wrist and drove it towards the ground until the tip of the blade entered the ground. The human then dropped on his knees and delivered his left fist into the fourth mutant's already-broken left knee. The mutant's shrieks became even louder as his legs weren't able to support his body any more and he fell down, unable to stand up.

Unknown to both human fighters, the sixth mutant rushed past them and overtook Reiko. The invader thought to himself that a scared native would be an easy kill since this one did not appear to be as aggressive as the two humans who kept five of his comrades busy. As the mutant raised his right arm to strike, though, Reiko calmed down and stared up into his eyes. An instant of locking eyes with this human was enough to convince the mutant to lower his right arm by his side. The invader couldn't believe who he was looking down at.

Kazuya had finished off his latest opponent as he helped Sonya up to her feet. They both turned around, suddenly remembering that one mutant had gotten past them in an effort to kill Reiko. They also knew that Reiko seemed much less capable in the art of war than the two of them. To their surprise, they both saw Reiko standing over the body of the mutant as the invader was lying on the ground on his stomach, completely immobile and in a small pool of his own blood.

"He ended up stabbing himself while trying to do me", Reiko panted, "I couldn't believe it, it was the most incredible thing I ever saw. Is this luck or what?".

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"It's a good thing that it was these bladed things that attacked and not anyone else, huh?", Reiko still appeared to be feeling uncomfortable around the bodies of the mutants, even after he had calmed down, "I'm just glad it wasn't one of those horsemen or one of those four-armed things. They're probably smart enough not to trip on their own knives, those guys".

"We won't be seeing either one of those", Sonya told him as she tightened the bandages around her forearms, "The Centaurs are gone, like I said, and the Shokanites deserted after that dickhead Kahn tried to turn on them".

"Really?", Reiko asked, "How do you know this?".

"I ran into one of them, a woman", she recalled, "Her name was Sheeva and she said she had survived an assassination attempt since Kahn had used the Centaurs to try to wipe her race out".

"Wow", Reiko exclaimed, "Two down, one to go, then. I was really impressed with the way you two fought when those bladed things attacked. No matter what happens, I'm gonna stick by you both".

"They're called nomads, and you're welcome to", Sonya smiled as she picked up her empty pistol and fed a fresh clip of bullets into it before holstering the weapon, "I'll just be glad when this whole thing is over, yet again".

She turned to Kazuya next as he was seated by himself several yards away without contributing to the conversation.

"You OK?", she asked him from a distance.

"Just fine", he replied, staring only ahead and not returning her glance.

"The two of us did make a good team, Reiko's right", she approached him, "We should...".

An outburst of electricity interrupted her. Kazuya spotted it too and recalled seeing such an entrance just a short time before. Rayden stood in front of the three humans and locked eyes with all three, starting with Reiko and ending with Kazuya.

"I'm glad you are enjoying his company, Sonya", the thunder god stated while still looking into Kazuya's returning glance, "Kazuya can help you and your friends. Isn't that right?".

The young Mishima didn't reply, but his facial expression alone told Rayden he was infuriated for being brought into the realm of the living after he had done what the thunder god had asked for.

"It was not my intention to bring you here, Kazuya", Rayden tried to explain, "I needed you to stop Shinnok, but the demon warrior slipped into my realm anyway. I would not have asked you to follow him here, but as long as you did, perhaps you can be of use to my mortals".

"Say what you came here to say and leave", Kazuya's voice deepened as his face lowered and he maintained his eye contact with the deity while standing up to his full height.

"You have a new threat", Rayden turned to Sonya, reasoning that she had enough of a history with him to listen with more attentiveness.

"No kidding, boss", she told him, "Tell me something I don't know. You just figured that out about a day _after_ Shao Kahn started his invasion?".

"This is not about the Shao Kahn", the deity pressed, "Someone new has arrived here from the Black Abyss. Shinnok plans to reawaken a monster that can kill someone and take that person's soul with a thought. With this reawakening he plans to destroy the Kahn, take his souls and then rule this earth after annihilating all human life from it".

"Gee, you'd think one clown with his army of circus freaks would be enough", Sonya crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I have restrained Shinnok temporarily, but he will break through my barrier in little time", Rayden went on, "We need every moment until then to send reinforcements to Chthon's lair to intercept Shinnok's effort. It won't take him long to destroy my barrier, especially not with his sorcerer I saw at the scene with him helping".

"Sorcerer? Not Shang Tsung, is it?", she wanted a clearer statement.

"No, his name was Quan Chi, someone who makes Shang Tsung appear young in comparison", the deity clarified.

"Really? Start teleporting then", Sonya clapped her hands once.

"It's not that simple", Rayden's response surprised her, "I do not want to send you and Kazuya there alone. It is very dangerous for just the two of you".

"Uh, three of us", Reiko corrected.

The deity looked at Reiko as he finished his statement. There was a strange aroma which surrounded this mortal, not similar to the one surrounding Kazuya, but the thunder god did not know what the scent signified. The dark-haired man gave him a nervous smile when he realized he was being stared at, indicating he was more scared than curious, so Rayden turned his attention back to the other two humans at the scene.

"Fine, call my friends then. You _do_ know where Johnny and Liu are, correct?", Sonya thought out loud, "Unless...".

"Johnny and Liu are fine", Rayden gave her a sigh of relief by reporting that both kombatants were still alive, "They are in the Outworld with Kitana, and possibly another ally".

"Have them meet us there", she suggested rather quickly, she was getting used to the idea of coming under fire with her fellow kombatants.

"I am not sure how long I'll be able to assist you", Rayden added, "I am breaking the restraints put upon me by Zeus already. If he was to find out that I'm even talking to you now, he would force me back into the celestial palace until this chapter in earth's history was over".

"Jeez!", Sonya raised her arms in frustration, "Fuck him! What does he think this is, a game or something where we have to worry about rules more so than the outcome?".

"I am sorry", the deity shook his head once.

"It's not your fault", she added while rubbing her forehead, "This whole thing is starting to get to me, that's all. You're not gonna get in trouble if you're caught, are you?".

"I won't get caught", Rayden sounded confident, not finding it odd that she was as concerned about his welfare as her own, "And even if I do, the consequences will still be nothing when compared to what will happen to you if we do not try to stop Shinnok".

"So what happens now?", Kazuya crossed his arms in his own turn.

"Yeah, teleport us to this Ch... Whatever's lair", Sonya suggested.

"Again, not that simple", Rayden went on, "Any action taken by me other than teleporting myself would be too obvious to escape Zeus' detection. In order to be able to take you there without anyone in the celestial palace knowing, I had to create a teleportation area on this earth from the sky. That invariably makes my aim somewhat inaccurate, as I was only able to make one in the approximate limits of this city. I landed on the earth next to it and saw where the portal had been created from the sky. It is at the intersection of 5th and Bluetane avenues".

"That's only a mile or so from here", Sonya remembered, "Hell, we can walk there. What about the guys and Kitana, though?".

"They are in the Outworld", the deity went on, "Since only the earth realm is being watched, I will be able to teleport go there and simply teleport them to Chthon's lair right away. But just remember that there will be a great time fluctuation as soon as you enter the lair, as if you were traveling between realms. Even though it's on the earth realm, the unholy power of stolen souls keeps that lair standing over time, and it also muddles the basic concept of time. People who travel into it may require as little as a minute or as long as several hours to enter. I will tell the other half of your team to watch for such an occurrence also".

"OK, do that", Sonya said, "Good luck".

"To you too", Rayden took one last look at all three humans before turning into an explosion of electricity and vanishing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rayden appeared in a much different environment than earth when he arrived in the Outworld. The first thing he remembered about this place was the purple sky. He personally liked blue much better, but this was not the time to be comparing favorite colors. He hadn't been in this realm for a long time, not ever since Shang Tsung had brought Goro to beat the original Kung Lao in mortal kombat five centuries ago. The sorcerer had used the Outworld as his stronghold while preparing for the tournaments against the earth's best warriors, all the time poisoning the air so that Rayden specifically could not enter it. Ever since Tsung's defeat during the tenth tournament at Liu's hands, the atmosphere had begun to convert back to its original environment, thus making it possible for the deity to visit. Although the air was still very uncomfortable for him to breath, Rayden found it better than it had been for the past 500 years. Only wanting to spend as little time in this realm as possible, he set his sights on the four individuals he spotted from the air before materializing in front of them

"Lord", Liu was the first to bow as the bolts of electricity expanded to form the shape of an adult man.

Kitana did the same afterwards, though Johnny and the gray cyborg who had smoke emerging form his body did not.

"Fancy seeing you here", the actor smirked as he took his sunglasses off.

"You are needed on earth, my friends", Rayden's words struck a chord in Johnny's mind.

The actor thought it was strange that the deity referred to them as friends. He had never thought of the thunder god as a friend. A guide, perhaps, and maybe a protector, but not a friend. Before he was able to think about the matter for long, though, Liu was already in the middle of a conversation with the deity.

"Kitana was about to attempt opening a portal into Shao Kahn's realm", the monk indicated he would rather strike into Kahn's domain rather than return home for now.

"I realize you do not know of the latest occurrences on your realm", Rayden explained, "There is a new threat in your world, someone who may end up being even a bigger threat than the Kahn. A demon called Shinnok has arrived with his personal sorcerer to reawaken an apocalyptic monster. He is every bit as ferocious as the Shao Kahn, and he is already in your realm. Sonya and a few friends are already on their way to intercept him".

"A few friends?", Liu wondered.

"Kazuya Mishima for starters", Rayden told him, "You do not know him from your world since this version of him is not from your earth, but of another, parallel earth realm. The important fact now is that he is a fierce warrior and he could prove to be helpful at this time. There is also an inhabitant of earth named Reiko that they have apparently come across".

"This is Smoke, by the way, lord Rayden", Kitana finally pointed towards the cyborg.

"The gray warrior you were advised to find", Rayden thought out loud as he stared into what would have been the cyborg's eyes.

Smoke pressed his right upper arm against his side, raised the forearm and rested it diagonally against his torso.

#Any enemy of Kahn is a friend of mine#, he spoke in his robotic voice.

"But what if we destroy Kahn first and then return to face this demon?", Liu insisted.

"If Chthon is awakened, it may very well swallow the Shao Kahn up as well as every other life in your world within a very short time", the deity explained, "This truly is more important, Liu. I know you are eager to end the Kahn's threat to your home world, but meeting Sonya and Kazuya there would be more beneficial to earth for now".

"Allright", the monk agreed, although he didn't like procrastinating his scheduled bout with Shao Kahn since it had been frightening him more and more as time went on.

Although Liu wanted to get his bout with the all-powerful opponent over with, he went along with Rayden's idea.

"I have warned Sonya's team about this", the deity said as he placed his palms together, "Because of the necromantic environment surrounding the lair, I cannot say for sure how long it will take you to get there. I have a few more items to cover with you, but that can wait until you return to the Outworld for Kahn. For now, we must worry about Shinnok and his sorcerer Quan Chi first".

"Understood", Kitana answered for the whole team.

Electricity emerged from the thunder god's hands and it engulfed the four fighters. Both it and Rayden soon vanished as the three humans and the cyborg found themselves in a totally new climate. The sky was dark even though they knew it was daytime on earth. They were standing on the edge of a large, rectangular-shaped building with an open ceiling. Just the width of the rectangle must have been half a mile, and the length was even longer. Huge columns emanated from the ground as they supported a second floor which was as large as the ground they were standing on. The most noticeable aspect of this lair was that lava covered the middle of the area. The entire ground was covered by a giant lava pool which was almost as long and wide as the lair itself. The second floor simply gave a better view of the pit itself, although no one had any idea on how to get there since it was about two hundred yards off the ground.

"Great", Johnny put his sunglasses back on since the brightness from the lava easily hurt his sensitive eyes, "Just when I thought I saw every weird place in this universe".

All four kombatants sighted movement from their left. They swiftly turned in that direction to spot a bald-headed man with silver-white skin approaching them in a cautious fashion.

"So", Quan Chi whispered loud enough to be heard, "Rayden has sent his team of losers to stop me and my master. Too afraid to do the job himself, I see".

"We don't need him to finish off the likes of you!", Johnny barked back as he realized he was talking to Shinnok's sorcerer.

After all, the actor reasoned, only the demon's sorcerer would've referred to him as a master. Liu and Kitana were quick to restrain him by the arm so he wouldn't go ahead of the team alone. Any effort against the invaders needed to be done together.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk", Quan Chi admonished as he was about a dozen steps from the humans, "Such a temper. But tell me, how good is your temper when turned against, say, one of your own?".

"Can you make some sense or do you always talk as good as you look?", the actor shot back, waiting for him to make his point as all four fighters kept a careful eye out on the approaching sorcerer and their surroundings.

They thought to themselves that Quan Chi appeared too arrogant for someone who was outnumbered by four opponents. So they were careful to comb the area around both him and themselves to make sure that the sorcerer had not arranged for anyone to deliver a sneak attack while he distracted them himself.

"My point, pretty boy, is your weakness there", Quan Chi addressed Johnny but pointed at Smoke with his right index finger.

The cyborg noticed that he was being discussed. He was waiting patiently for one of the three humans to give the word so he could launch his projectile against the warlock. No matter how powerful Quan Chi believed himself to be, Smoke knew that one harpoon imbedded into his lower throat would have killed him for sure.

"Hmm", the sorcerer winked, rubbing his chin with his left fingers, "I can't say I've never seen technology like that before. His type was somewhat ancient, though, the people that my master and I destroyed in the previous earth had technology way more advanced than that, and this was thousands of years before".

"I am just about getting fed up with you!", Liu walked ahead of the rest, pointing back at the sorcerer in his own turn, "Our world is under attack and you keep us preoccupied here! Either you will tell us where your master is or you will die where you stand!".

Kitana withdrew two paper fans which were surrounded by razor-sharp edges, seemingly out of nowhere. At the same time, Smoke's chest opened until a square hole was made visible. Just an inch under the surface of his chest, a harpoon with the ability to impale a wall eagerly waited to be launched.

"I have a better idea", Quan Chi grinned, "Let's even out the odds. Maybe I can use the prehistoric technology in that walking tin can there".

With that, the sorcerer held his right arm up, with the palm facing towards the ceiling, and began curling his fingers inward. A red gas began forming in his palm until it condensed enough to be seen from where the kombatants stood. By the time any of the four fighters recognized that the sorcerer held the gas in his hand, Quan Chi threw the contents of his palm towards the cyborg. Smoke let out an electronic gasp and took several steps back as the three humans turned their attention towards him if only for an instant.

"Now", Quan Chi placed his palms together, still smiling, "Kill all three of them".

The sorcerer then turned and ran away while Smoke only stood silently for a moment as red fumes emerged from his body instead of the regular gray ones.

"Smoke, are you all right?", Kitana asked as she took a step towards the cyborg.

The mechanical kombatant answered with force. He ignored the princess and turned his attention towards Liu since the monk was clearly the leader of the team. His spear shot out of his chest and headed straight in the monk's direction. From a distance of only ten yards, he could not have missed, and Liu only had enough time to gasp as he saw the accelerating spear sailing through the air towards him. His spear would have struck the leader of the earth warriors exactly where it was intended to if Kitana had not pushed him out of the way. She threw him to the ground and out of harm's way just as the cyborg's projectile reached the spot where Liu stood a fraction of a second ago. The spear tore into her throat and emerged from the back of her neck as Kitana gasped for an instant while blood erupted out of her mouth. She dropped the fans on the ground as Smoke withdrew his bloodied spear out of her neck and Liu heard himself screaming from a far away place.

Johnny Cage flew towards the cyborg in a flying shadow kick. The bottom of his foot struck Smoke in the chest and sent the cyborg gliding through the air for ten yards before that one landed on his back without making a sound. With brutal speed and efficiency, the cyborg sprang back to his feet as he viewed Liu down on his knees and holding Kitana's almost-severed head in his hands. Tears were running down the monk's face, so Smoke could've struck him with a second attempt by using the spear with a reasonable chance of success. Before he was able to send his projectile again, however, Johnny rushed in his direction and executed a standing shadow kick against him. The actor seemed to slide on the ground on his left foot as his right leg was held high, pointing at the cyborg's chest again. Smoke saw a flash of colors resembling Johnny's clothing which followed him before the second impact sent the cyborg staggering backwards and crashing back-first into one of the columns which supported the second floor. Seeing the cyborg dazed for only a moment, and not wanting to face him when he was not, Johnny turned around and ran back towards Liu. The monk was still holding Kitana's corpse in his arms when the actor reached him.

"Liu, she's gone, there's nothing we can do!", the actor grabbed the monk by the shoulders in an effort to pull him up to his feet, "We have to get out of here".

Liu stood up as his eyes were targeting the column against which Smoke had crashed. Not wanting to lose two teammates at once, Johnny pulled the monk away since he believed Liu could not have beaten the cyborg, especially in his currently grieving state of mind. The cyborg lifted his right arm until it pointed towards the two men and a tongue of flame shot out of it, intending to burn them where they stood. Both kombatants turned and ran in the opposite direction, feeling the intense heat from the flame on their backs even though the tongue itself had not touched them. Quan Chi was nowhere to be seen since the sorcerer had already undergone a hasty retreat immediately after issuing the order to the reprogrammed cyborg.

Smoke ran after Liu and Johnny, calmly giving chase even though his running speed was at least three times faster than any human's. Despite the head start the humans had by running first and the distance they were away from the android, it would've taken Smoke only a few seconds to catch up to them. This was especially true since the hunted had nowhere to run but in a straight line. To their left was a solid wall while to their right was the pool of lava, so the only place the two kombatants could run was straight ahead. Glancing over his shoulder once, Liu spotted Smoke raising his arm to activate his flame thrower again. This time he was close enough to be able to burn both individuals with ease. Since the rectangular-shaped hallway did not turn to the right for at least hundreds of yards more, Liu had to take the one possible escape route his eyes caught. Seeing an opening in the wall to their left, the monk threw himself against Johnny, forcing the both of them into the opening a fraction of a second before another tongue of flame shot through the air where they had been standing. Johnny crashed into the ground first as Liu landed next to him. Struggling to stand up fast, both men saw that the opening was a dead end. The small room in the wall was covered by three walls in itself and it led nowhere. With Smoke only a few seconds after them, both fighters knew that this was the moment to fight to the death. Once the cyborg appeared at the entrance of this opening, either he would survive the encounter or they would.

Before Smoke reached the opening to the room, though, both fighters heard a slight humming sound and then felt the ground underneath their feet moving. Johnny gasped as he saw that they were being pushed upwards towards the second floor. The two had stepped on an elevator which operated by sensing someone's weight on the platform. The rising platform took only a few seconds to take them to the second floor despite the awesome height of the columns which supported that floor. Upon reaching it, both men kept standing on the platform, unsure of what to do next. The second floor looked exactly like the first, except that it was on a higher altitude, so the view of the lava pool was different. Liu stepped off first, and Johnny followed him an instant afterwards. As soon as the actor was off the platform, it rushed back downstairs, leaving a hole in the floor where it was before. The actor realized that they had made it possible for Smoke to follow them, so he swore at himself for not staying on the platform until Liu could have found a heavy object to replace their body weight with.

Once the elevator hit the first floor, both kombatants heard it humming again, meaning that another passenger was riding it to the second floor to join them. It took the platform a few seconds to reach the second floor, like it had done with them, and when it stopped at its destination, the cyborg was standing on it, ready to finish his task. But Liu and Johnny were ready as well. The monk tackled Smoke from his left side and the cyborg crashed on his right side off the platform with Liu on top of him. Feeling no one, the platform went back downstairs. Liu jumped back on his feet just in time as Johnny let loose a furious barrage of kicks aimed for the android's head and chest. Smoke was busy just trying to defend himself from the actor's constant kicks as he stood up, so he didn't see Liu as the monk delivered a brutal flying kick aimed as high as possible. Liu's extended right leg struck Smoke in the head and sent the cyborg staggering backwards and towards the hole in the floor that the elevator platform had left by going back downstairs. Smoke stepped into the void in the floor and lost his balance as he disappeared down the chasm. He didn't scream as he fell two hundred yards, but Johnny and Liu next heard his body crashing into the elevator platform below. Once feeling weight on top of itself, the efficient platform then rose towards the second floor again. It neatly covered the void in the floor as Smoke was lying on top of it in a prone position. Sparks flew out of the cyborg as it vehemently tried to stand back up but failed with each effort.

"Come on, buddy", the actor tapped Liu's arm, "Now's our time to finish it".

The monk placed both his hands on either side of the cyborg's head and, despite that one's heavy weight, lifted him off the platform. Not accepting Johnny's offer for help, Liu dragged Smoke to the edge of the second floor as he heard the elevator going back downstairs behind him. Looking over the edge of the second floor, Liu's stern eyes saw the lava pool starting just after the edge of the first floor, which was exactly under the same spot as the edge for the second floor. So pushing someone off the second floor would mean throwing that person into the lava. Liu considered dropping the cyborg into the lava pool and ending his sudden menace once and for all. The only sight he could see in his mind was Kitana being fatally stabbed for daring to help him. Before grief threatened to be the only factor in his decision, though, Liu also remembered that Smoke had just saved all their lives in the living forest before volunteering to help them fight Kahn. It was Quan Chi's magic which had made Smoke into the killer that he had turned into.

The monk slipped one forearm under the back of Smoke's knees and another one below his upper back before holding him over the edge of the second floor. Before Johnny had a chance to ask what he planned to do, Liu then changed his mind. The monk turned around, away from the edge of the second floor, and threw the cyborg back into the empty elevator shaft. Liu didn't look to see the result, but he knew what happened after he heard Smoke hitting the hard ground about two hundred yards below for the second time. He was already walking away when the elevator lifted the cyborg's already-mutilated body towards the second floor yet again. Johnny looked back at the elevator one last time before turning to join the monk.

"What are we gonna do now?", the actor asked the obvious.

"We need to find that sorcerer!", Liu spat between his pressed teeth, "And his master also. I just realized we failed in an even greater way than I had thought".

"How so?", Johnny asked, speeding up his pace to try to keep up with his fellow kombatant.

"Shinnok is a soul-stealer", Liu explained without looking at him, "Just like Shao Kahn. When we were busy running for our lives, I'm sure he took Kitana's soul to add to his arsenal. We weren't even able to save the princess' soul".

"OK, OK, that's fine", the actor passed his ten fingers through his hair, "We beat this Shinnok and release her then, right?".

"Right", the monk agreed, "We just have to find him first".

The second floor turned the right corner a fairly long distance ahead of them, so the monk turned to the actor and looked at him.

"One of us should go back downstairs, to increase our odds of finding this insect of a sorcerer", Liu suggested, "We will be able to cover more ground that way. And if you find him, do not hesitate to kill him yourself".

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense", Johnny told him, although he didn't like the idea of separating in such a hostile environment, "I'll go back down".

The actor offered his right hand, palm facing upwards, before the monk slapped down on it with his own left palm. Retaining his adamant facial expression the whole time, the monk turned away from Johnny as the actor carefully ran back towards the waiting elevator. The last thing Liu heard as he himself ran towards the right corner of the second floor was his partner trying to use the elevator to go back downstairs. Liu did not know how one would take the elevator downwards, as it seemed to only climb upwards when it had a weight on it and downwards when it carried nothing. He had faith that the actor would find a way, though. Johnny, in the meantime, removed Smoke's immobile body from the elevator and, as soon as the flat area began its descent towards the first floor, he jumped through the hole in the floor. His feet landed on the elevator as it was only about three yards down from the level of the second floor and he regained his balanced on it as he was carried all the way to the first floor.

Liu kept running until he approached the right turn and reached the beginning of the length of the rectangular building he was in. It had taken him at least five minutes of a slow, wary run before he had reached that corner. He saw that the length of the second floor started off as spacious as the first floor ground had been, but the middle of the length of the second floor soon became much more narrow, so it only allowed one person to walk on it at one time. The thick columns from the ground level held the narrow passageway up, but there was empty space of about five yards between the passageway and the wall next to it. Following the trail along the length of the second floor thus meant that Liu could have watched for any signs of movement on the second floor as well as the area below by looking over empty space next to it.

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In the meantime, Quan Chi was on the ground floor as his servant zombies forced over twenty humans towards the edge of the fiery lake. Those humans had been found relatively far from Chthon's lair as they were trying to hide from Shao Kahn's armies. Needing the extra manual help, as well as the souls for the sorcerer's master, Shinnok had stolen the souls from the Black Dragon bodyguards after those had responded to Jarek's screams immediately following his escape from Rayden's restraints. Taking the soul of a person who had just died was easy, but if the soul was not taken within a few minutes, it would be impossible to steal. Such an act of necromancy was relatively effortless, but it required finding someone who had recently died. A more difficult art was taking the soul of someone who was still alive. This took more energy and it left the soul's former owner as a mindless zombie, not much more than a savage animal. The zombies who were forcing the regular humans towards the edge of the lava had been Jarek, Mark and other members of the Black Dragons a short time ago, but now did their master's bidding only. After Shinnok had stolen their souls, he had brought them with him to Chthon's lair and then ordered them to go out and bring the first humans they spotted back to be sacrificed. Amid the wails and cries of the terrified humans, who had been bitten by the zombies in the effort to force them in from outside the lair, Quan Chi concentrated.

"What the hell are you?", one male shrieked, "What are those things?".

A zombie clobbered him over the head for daring to address his master in such a tone of voice.

"What are you gonna do to us?", an adolescent female gasped in between frightened tears.

The sorcerer ignored them both as he continued his prayer. Within two more minutes, a red cloud surrounded those terrified humans. That was the last sensation they felt because their souls were wrenched out of their bodies next. Quan Chi's ears would have hurt from the screaming which surrounded him if he had been an ordinary mortal, but he was not. All the stolen souls came together and sailed through the air until the unholy mass rested in front of the sorcerer. A group of savage zombies stood at the exact spot where the kidnapped humans had been only a short time ago. The new zombies joined the old ones who had brought them into the lair in a random walk around the ground as Quan Chi telepathically called for his master. Shinnok promptly appeared out of the air a few steps in front of his servant since he already knew why he was being summoned. The red demon raised his right arm, with the palm facing the sorcerer, as Quan Chi sent the mass of stolen souls his way. Shinnok inhaled the souls and felt stronger yet. He roared in laughter.

It was another ten minutes of brisk walking on the second floor before Liu heard the loud laughter which seemed to follow the terrified screams he detected just a short time ago. He knew that the sound came from closeby and then spotted the person he despised most at this time. From the second floor level and through the space next to the passageway, Liu saw Quan Chi on the ground below. The sorcerer was facing the lava pool as he seemed to be praying towards it. Shinnok, standing behind him, wore a happy expression on his face

"What is the status on the rising?", the demon asked.

"Very soon", the sorcerer assured.

Without another word, Shinnok vanished into thin air. Near Quan Chi and where Shinnok previously stood, Liu spotted several thin zombies wondering away aimlessly. The earth warrior reasoned that the sorcerer had let his guard down since he already assumed, falsely, that Smoke had killed both earth realm kombatants. Liu could've run back to the elevator to go downstairs now that he knew where the sorcerer was located, but he did not wish to lose sight of this one, since doing so would mean giving Quan Chi a chance to escape. Instead, Liu walked towards the open space on the second floor, the whole time keeping his eyes set on the sorcerer below, and then jumped off until he wrapped his arms around one of the columns which held the second floor up. In such a fashion, the monk climbed down towards the ground, hoping that the sorcerer would not hear him approaching.

From the first floor, Quan Chi only heard a light noise from high above. He turned his face upwards just in time to see Liu climbing down the column about thirty yards from the ground floor. Knowing that he had been spotted, Liu leapt off the column with his arms spread arms wide. The sorcerer's eyes ballooned wide open as he realized the mortal human was diving straight for him. Quan Chi let out a short yell before Liu reached him. The sorcerer reacted fast. He dropped down on his back and lifted his right leg ahead of the rest of his body. Liu's stomach met the bottom of the sorcerer's foot and Quan Chi continued with the monk's speed by grabbing Liu's shoulders and pushing the earth kombatant off him instantly. Liu flew horizontally along the ground floor as he curled his body into a ball. He gracefully landed on his feet several yards away from Quan Chi's head as the sorcerer stood back up fast. The monk screamed as he rushed back towards the sorcerer, who turned into his fighting stance. Not knowing how the monk had gotten away from the cyborg, the sorcerer ducked as Liu executed a high roundhouse kick aimed for his head. Coming back down on his feet, Liu tried to leg sweep his opponent, only to have Quan Chi jump up to avoid the second strike. The sorcerer tried to counterattack as he came back down on his feet and Liu stood up, but the monk delivered a high front kick with his left leg first. The bottom of Liu's foot slammed into his target's chin before his opponent staggered back and spat out blood. Eagerly following him, Liu delivered a right uppercut into the same chin and sent the sorcerer flying backwards in a semicircle. While still in the air, Quan Chi crashed into the nearest column and painfully bounced off it before coming to rest on his hands and knees.

Feeling desperate, the sorcerer concentrated enough power in his right hand in the time it took Liu to run up to him to deliver more punishment. Quan Chi tossed the contents of his hand into Liu's face and the monk's upper body snapped backwards as he covered his eyes because he was blinded for a few seconds. As Liu gasped, frantically trying to regain his eyesight, the sorcerer stood up and ran away from him as fast as possible because he knew the instant magical concoction would not last long.

"QUAN CHI!", Liu yelled as he saw the sorcerer's silhouette dashing away, "YOU CANNOT HIDE FROM ME!".

Liu rubbed his eyes one last time as he had gotten enough of his eyesight back.

"This world is not big enough to hide you from me, you moving target", the monk whispered under his breath.

Liu chased after him. Before he was able to close the distance between the two of them, however, the monk saw Smoke leaping through the air from the sorcerer's direction towards him in a flying kick. The cyborg ignored the fleeing sorcerer as Quan Chi ran past him and kept his attention fixed on the human from earth. Liu's eyes widened when he spotted Smoke's return. The monk sidestepped towards the wall and away from the lava pit in just enough time so that Smoke's extended leg flew past him. The cyborg landed on his legs with the grace of a cat and wasted no time in attempting another offensive. The cyborg headbutted Liu in the nose. The monk saw stars as the back of his head crashed into the wall behind him. Liu screamed and twisted to his left while planting his right foot into the cyborg's stomach. That strike had almost no effect because Smoke next gripped his throat with a gray left grasp. The cyborg strangled Liu with that one hand as he pressed the monk's back against the wall and then lifted him a foot off the ground. Rather than kill him slowly by strangulation, Smoke then bent his right arm at the elbow and pointed his right hand towards Liu's face. It was only a split second before Liu knew that the cyborg planned to let loose a tongue of flame, thus intending to burn the monk instantly where he was held.

While Smoke was trying previously to execute the flying kick against Liu, though, Quan Chi's hasty retreat to the elevator had been suddenly cut short when he had run right into Johnny Cage's form. The actor gripped the sorcerer by the collar with his right hand and smiled.

"Well, well", the kombatant with the sunglasses grinned, "Look what the cat dragged in".

Johnny punched him in the stomach with a left fist. As the sorcerer bent down, gasping for breath, the actor gripped him by the collar with both hands. Without another word, Johnny dragged the sorcerer towards the edge of the first floor where the lava pool began. With the front of Quan Chi's feet being held on the solid ground while the back of his feet were in the open space over the lava, the actor retained his grip on the sorcerer's collar as he stood in front of Quan Chi and slowly moved his arms towards the lava pool. Quan Chi screamed in fear as he found himself being dangled at a sixty degree angle just over the lava. Keeping the sorcerer in the vulnerable position, Johnny looked over his own shoulder to see Smoke gripping Liu in the air by the monk's throat, ready to burn his partner alive.

"Release the hold you have on Smoke, or I swear I'll drop you right now!", the actor barked as he shook his arms a bit, indicating to Quan Chi that he was serious.

The sorcerer did not answer at first, only looked into the kombatant's mirrored sunglasses with his own terrified eyes.

"NOW!", Johnny ordered, "Or are you willing to trade your life for one fighter from earth?".

"No, no!", the sorcerer finally begged, "I will do as you say!".

Quan Chi closed his eyes and curled the fingers of his right hand inward. As a result, Johnny saw a red cloud emerging from Smoke's body and then disappearing into the air. The red smoke emanating from the cyborg's body was replaced with the usual gray ones before the cyborg quickly put Liu back down on his feet and released the grip on his neck.

"That's better", the actor gave the sorcerer a smile as he walked backwards from the edge of lava pool, thus making it possible for Quan Chi to stand up straight on the edge of the ground level on his own.

"Too bad that ain't enough, though", Johnny kept on smiling.

Before Quan Chi knew what to do, the actor turned into his fighting stance.

"Tell me how the water is after you take a swim in it", the actor told him.

Both Liu and Smoke saw Johnny delivering a front kick into the sorcerer's stomach. The impact sent Quan Chi staggering backwards and, since he was already standing on the edge of the pool of lava, the sorcerer fell into the lava as he kept screaming. Johnny only stood near the edge as he stared down at the sorcerer's burning form. The actor remained emotionless as he saw Quan Chi's skin literally melting and then smelled the burning flesh underneath it. Quan Chi gave one last scream as he pushed his skinless forearm out of the lava. The last thing Johnny saw was a skeletal arm sinking into the pool before the sorcerer's entire body had disappeared into it.

"Fatality", the actor whispered to himself.

Johnny turned back towards the two other kombatants. The cyborg stood still as he stared at the monk whom he had tried to kill more than once, and had nearly succeeded in his latest attempt. Feeling wary, the actor walked towards the pair hoping that Smoke was back to his normal self but ready in case Quan Chi's reversal spell had been a hoax.

#I am contrite#, Smoke declared in his usual voice, #I was not acting out of my own will#.

"Yeah, we know", Johnny approached the pair as he pointed behind him, "That melting snowflake back there just removed the reprogramming spell he cursed you with".

Either ignoring or not detecting Liu's angry look towards him, the cyborg then turned toward the actor to reply.

#I have felt Shinnok taking the soul of the princess just after her death#, the automated warrior let him know, #It occurred when I was busy chasing you into the elevator. We should try to free her soul, along with everyone else's#.

"Uh, yeah", Johnny agreed, amazed that Smoke had not felt Liu's glare, although he already had, "We should do that".

Before anyone could add any suggestions for a future course of action, an angry roar sounded through the lair.

"HOW DARE YOU!", Shinnok's voice was heard echoing through the lair.

The demon came into sight just a few feet in front of all three kombatants and standing several steps next to one of the massive columns which were holding the second floor in place.

"The sorcerer had been with me for close to an eternity!", Shinnok barked, now visibly upset, "You will pay for your actions!".

"Funny", Johnny turned to him, "That's what we were thinking about you".

The demon did not flinch.

"I will take your entire world's inhabitants to hell for that!", Shinnok continued, "And I will start with you three!".

"Hell, huh?", the actor gave a snappy answer although his spite for the demon was evident, "What is that like? I'm picturing it's a place where everyone is forced to stand in an unemployment line that never moves. Am I close?".

The demon didn't reply.

"See, ugly's death was only a start", the actor explained, "It doesn't make up for Kitana, alone".

"Ah, yes", Shinnok finally gave an small grin, "Your precious princess. She does feel right at home, indentured inside of me".

Liu growled in anger, taking a step closer to Shinnok before the actor restrained him. It wasn't safe to attack such a powerful demon yet, especially since this opponent knew a lot about the monk's style by absorbing Kitana's soul

"Do not be vexed", Shinnok's smile continued, "You will keep her company soon enough".

With that, the demon raised his right arm towards the ceiling.

"Behold, your destruction", he announced relatively quietly.

That is when the three kombatants saw what they believed to be an inhabitant of hell itself.

It rose out of the pool of lava. Its height reached the second floor of the structure, its mass was larger than anything the three fighters had seen before. Chthon climbed out of the lava, bearing an approximately round width at the stomach which was at least thirty yards in diameter. Its skin and flesh were so rugged that it allowed this animal the freedom to be sleeping inside lava for thousands of years before being reawakened to wreck havoc against the inhabitants of the realm for the second time. Both of its gigantic arms were longer than two buses aligned one after the other. As Liu and even Smoke looked up and appeared momentarily hypnotized by Chthon's grotesque and horned face, Johnny only felt grateful that he had remembered to bring his sunglasses.

While Shinnok was so busy bellowing in laughter at his accomplishment and his opponents' shock at the sight, Smoke was the first to react. The cyborg reasoned that his flame-thrower would not be of any use against an adversary who felt perfectly comfortable inside a lava pool. Smoke thus took two steps towards the lava and stopped near its edge. His spear flew out of his chest and struck near the base of Chthon's stomach, only a few feet on top of the level of the lava. The monster's skin was barely scratched at the strike. Not surprised, the cyborg let loose as much electricity as he could afford through the cable which was attached to the spear. The electricity traveled through the cable and impacted into Chthon, the result of which was that the monster felt a small tickle at the spot where the spear had hit. Screaming at the defiance shown by the tiny cyborg, the monster waved one of its arms towards Smoke. A fireball emerged from its hand and struck the cyborg in the torso. The source of the cable in Smoke's chest was torn out of it as the spear remained imbedded in the monster's skin while the cyborg was hurled backwards. He violently crashed back-first into the wall behind him and loosened several pieces of rocks from it before sinking to the ground amid a wave of electronic drivel. Smoke finally stopped sinking towards the floor and remained on it in a seated position with his back flattened against the wall behind him. Johnny and Liu only had enough time to watch as the cyborg rested lifelessly on the ground and stayed immobile.

Johnny reacted next. The kombatant charged towards Shinnok with a yell, intending to tackle him and pin him to the ground with all his might. He had already lost two of his partners within a very short amount of time and he was going to make the being responsible for the loss pay. As the actor neared the demon, though, a blue vertical wall appeared in between them. Even though he saw the new barrier, Johnny was running too fast to stop instantly. The actor crashed into the magical wall and bounced off it with an involuntary shriek. He was hurled backwards into the air before violently meeting the actual wall of the lair and coming to rest on the ground not far from Smoke's obliterated body.

Liu's pulse raced as he couldn't see any movement from Johnny's immobile frame. The actor might've been dead, or perhaps merely unconscious. The monk hoped for the latter, but he didn't have enough time to investigate to ease his fears. Liu turned his attention back to the demon responsible and saw that one raising his right hand while he still stood behind the security of the mystical wall. A bright flame appeared at the tip of his fingers as it then began spreading towards Johnny's direction. The grin on Shinnok's face widened and Liu saw the demon impatiently waiting to acquire the kombatant's soul.

"It does pay to be well-versed in the black arts", the demon complimented himself, "I doubt the Shao Kahn himself is capable of stealing the soul of a living person. That miscreant must wait until his opponents are deceased before being capable of any necromancy. I, on the other hand, do not have that limitation".

Liu turned into his fighting stance, desperate to distract his adversary from concentrating on the task at hand.

"Fight me, coward!", the monk yelled, "Why do you choose to hide behind that barricade?".

"Hmm", Shinnok grimaced, "I will, that's a promise. After I take your friend's soul, that is. And you will be here to watch the whole thing, lucky you. But do not worry, he will still be around to watch you meet your death right afterwards".

Liu became more desperate as he remembered the zombies which had been wandering around the grounds of the lair. He asked himself if Johnny would've turned into such a creature if the demon had acquired the actor's soul. Not wanting to find out, the monk turned the first and only plan in his mind into action.

The kombatant vaulted into the air with as strong a leap as his legs could afford, only he wasn't targeting Shinnok like Johnny had earlier. Liu knew that any attempt to get through the blue barrier would be a waste of time and energy, and time was the one factor that he did not possess presently. He turned his vertical body counterclockwise while flying towards the column that the demon was standing several steps to the left of. As Liu reached the pillar, he gave out a yell while raising his left leg and then swerving it. The back of his left ankle crashed into the column and the impact loosened an explosion of stones from it. Pieces of rock and gravel flew in every direction imaginable as the monk dropped to the ground while covering his head with his arms. Some rocks were tossed into the lava pool where Chthon watched the whole commotion down below between its master and the annoying mortal. Other pieces of stone flew in the direction opposite Shinnok's and others still hit the wall near the fallen actor and the cyborg. Additional stones also found their way towards the demon himself. Seeing them, Shinnok quickly switched the barrier so it protected his left side rather than his face and torso. Although his shield protected him from the flying debris, Liu's attempt had succeeded because he had been distracted long enough to turn away from his attempt to steal the downed actor's soul.

The red demon was infuriated as he then spotted Liu rebounding around the lair while barely touching his own feet to the ground. Liu jumped up and recoiled off the column and sailed through the air towards the wall in front of Shinnok right above his two fellow kombatants. He positioned his legs ahead of the rest of his body so that his feet met the wall about eight feet above the level of the ground before he bounced off that also, this time flying straight into Shinnok's face. The demon gasped as he realized he had not repositioned the barrier back from its current left location. The realization came too late because the next thing he saw was Liu twisting in midair before extending his own right leg in a straight line. The only sight the demon could visualize after that was the bottom of the monk's shoe coming towards his face before he felt the impact right between the eyes.

Shinnok gave out a yell as he staggered backwards, making sure to stop short of falling into the lava behind him. Observing the hit delivered against its master, Chthon threw a second fireball towards the ground, this time aimed at Liu. The monk proved to be the faster of the two, however, because he evaded the burning sphere while somersaulting away from the demon. The fireball struck the wall a short distance away from Johnny's motionless body as Liu continuously increased the distance between himself and Shinnok.

Annoyed at the mortal's persistence, the demon motioned up at Chthon with his right hand, indicating his monster that the monk was his alone to kill. Seeing the gesture, Chthon growled in obedience and simply watched as its master dropped the blue shield altogether. Liu came back down on his feet and stood his ground in a fighting stance. The only scene he viewed was Shinnok rushing at him as the demon wore a very incensed facial expression. Liu was glad, the demon had left Johnny alone and had given in to his desire to destroy an enemy with his bare hands enough to turn down the guaranteed protection that the blue barrier had afforded him.

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The streets leading towards 5th and Bluetane avenue all looked the same. A countless number of carcasses, both human and mutant, littered the ground. Red seemed to be a more prevalent color on the ground than the grayish asphalt that the roads and sidewalks were made out of. Although such a sight wasn't anything new to Sonya before, it didn't mean it became easier to remain focused. She tried to block out the smell of blood as she stepped over the latest body as she, Kazuya and Reiko crossed a street. Reiko seemed to be the most nervous of the three as he still appeared uncomfortable with the constant reminder of death surrounding him everywhere he turned. It was a grim expression of what had happened to many before them and also what waited for them. Sonya noticed his neurotic facial cast but reasoned that it was difficult enough for her to remain sharp under such excrutiating circumstances. She told herself that she'd try to support Reiko if he broke down and wasn't able to continue, but until then she had to worry about maintaining the steel grip she currently had on her emotions. She just wished that grip wasn't loosening with every cadaver she had to step over as she maintained the pistol gripped with both hands while her arms were bent at the elbow in front of her torso.

"How much further?", Kazuya asked almost in a casual tone of voice.

"Four blocks", she said as she looked at him.

She kept looking into his eyes even though he had never glanced into her direction even when asking the question. Sonya was forced to wonder how this man could've remained so calm when she, someone with several years of experience in the Army Special Forces, was fighting a constant battle in her mind to stay tranquil. Ignoring the dead bodies did not come easy, no matter how many of them she had seen throughout her career, but Kazuya was acting as if he was taking a usual walk down the street and seeing nothing out of the ordinary.

It was then that Sonya remembered Reiko's yells when Kazuya had first dropped out of the sky. She had forgotten the warnings about the evil state of this stranger because of Rayden's visit, but she pondered about them now. Even though Rayden had given his assurances that Kazuya was on her side, she had to admit that she knew nothing about him even at the present time. It was only after several moments that Kazuya even noticed the constant stare he was receiving from her and turned his face towards hers.

"Is something the matter?", he politely offered.

"Just thinking too much, I suppose", she replied, taking a few steps closer to him as Reiko always stayed near her, "I'd like to know who you are".

"Then you should've said so", the visitor from another realm answered as he looked ahead again.

"Guess so", Sonya agreed, "Stuff like what the other version of me was doing leading a platoon against you in your dimension".

"Yeah!', Reiko added after her statement.

She turned to him for a second and smiled before diverting her serious attention towards Kazuya again.

"That is a long story", Kazuya explained, "But it starts when...".

He was interrupted by human screams emanating from a nearby building. All three turned towards the source of the noise and spotted an adult man being forced inside the entrance of the building by two larger mutants. The two invaders were inside the building before Sonya could take aim with the pistol. Without a second thought, she bolted towards them.

"Stay with him", she ordered to Kazuya, motioning towards Reiko.

Forgetting about the recollection about his life, and never being one who ever took orders as an adult, Kazuya gave chase as an agitated Reiko seemed to wish they hadn't heard the screams, or at least that his company wasn't so bold in the face of danger. The wooden door to the building had been closed by the second mutant who walked through it. It didn't remain that way for long because Sonya reached it first and broke it down with a single front kick delivered next to the doorknob. The two mutants inside the lobby were already standing over the eviscerated body of the man when the dislocated door crashed down on the lobby floor. Both invaders turned their attention towards the new natives as Sonya stood on top of the broken door and took aim with the Glock. She heard Kazuya entering through the empty doorway as she was about to pull the trigger. Before she did, however, she heard another scream from behind them both, except this time it was Reiko's. Both she and Kazuya turned around to see two other mutants carrying Reiko away from them as he struggled against the two, much stronger invaders. Not wondering why the mutants would want to abduct a human when all she saw them doing so far was killing on the spot, Sonya gasped as she turned around to take aim at the kidnappers. She stepped off the door and stood in the doorway next to Kazuya, aiming past him, but her action left her open to an attack from behind by the two original mutants in the building.

Both invaders rushed towards the armed female human thinking to themselves that they had come across a lucky break before she got a chance to use her weapon against them. As they closed half the distance between themselves and her, though, Kazuya carefully moved towards them. Thinking they would have some fun at the male human's expense, both mutants slowed down their forward rush as they scrutinized their newest opponent. Before giving them a chance to attack, Kazuya picked up the broken door off the lobby floor. The invaders gasped as they saw him lifting the door over his own head before hurling it towards them. One mutant ducked out of the way while the other invader wasn't fast enough and thus allowed the horizontal door to hit him in the chest. He dropped on his back with a solid noise, feeling dazed. With one mutant down, at least temporarily, Kazuya bolted towards that one's comrade. Once the human was near enough, the mutant swung downward with the right blade. Kazuya sent his upper body towards the left at the waistline as the aimed blade touched the floor merely inches to the right of his own right foot. Holding on to the mutant's wrist with his own right hand, he made sure the invader wasn't able to lift that arm again. Before the mutant was able to use his left blade in response, Kazuya raised his left arm above his own head before bringing his left fist downward on the invader's forehead. The mutant saw stars as his head snapped back and the human let go of his right wrist. A right jab followed into the mutant's solar plexus, driving the invader backwards still. Annoyed, the mutant raised both arms horizontally with his own shoulders in an effort to swing with both of them. Before he was able to deliver the blades into the human target, though, Kazuya turned to his left as his right knee was bent and kicked with his right leg. His right ankle met the left side of the mutant's jaw and loosened several of that one's teeth as the invader's head snapped to his own right. With the human's leg still high in the air and past the mutant's face, Kazuya pulled his right leg back down the same path it had been raised. The back of his right ankle smashed into the right side of the invader's jaw and snapped that one's face towards the left before Kazuya was standing on his two legs again. Letting out a shrill scream, one that demanded blood, the mutant received a left front kick into the chin from the smaller human. His upper body snapped back under the impact and he crashed back-first against the floor.

He didn't get back up, so the human turned his attention back towards the first mutant who had been struck by the door. That invader was still lying on his back, although he was starting to get back up. Kazuya quickly walked up to him and, after looking down at him for an instant with a pair of cold eyes, lifted his right leg as the knee was bent. The mutant didn't understand what the earth native was doing as the human's jet-black eyebrows came closer together, but then felt the crushing feel of the bottom of Kazuya's right boot on his throat. The mutant gasped for air as his body was forced back into horizontal position on the floor. It was two seconds later that the human heard the invader's neck snap. It was only then that Kazuya took his foot off the mutant's throat.

Sonya, in the meanwhile, had the muzzle of her pistol trained with both hands towards the back of one of the mutants who was busy carrying a struggling Reiko away from her. As she was about to pull the trigger, a foreign leg kicked out at her wrist from her left, knocking her hands as well as the weapon towards the sky as a bullet was fired from it. The handgun flew out of her grasp as she gasped and lost her balance because of the impact in her arm and staggered to her right to remain on her feet. She regained her balance within an instant and then turned to her left to see the culprit responsible. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she found herself returning the gaze of three large mutants who looked down at her.

"Uh, hi guys", she locked eyes with all three nomads in turn as she turned into her fighting stance, waiting for the first one to attack, "Nice weather we're having today, huh?".

Seeing no movement from any of them since they were waiting for her to attack first instead, she decided to try to not disappoint them. She exhaled hard through the mouth in an annoyed fashion as she took a step closer to the trio who were themselves wondering which one would get to dismember the female human into the most pieces. Sonya bent her right leg at the knee and then sent that knee into the groin of the middle mutant. That one's eyes bulged open as he first bent down in an ear-piercing scream and then fell backwards on the ground. Outraged, his two fellow nomads rushed at her as she quickly walked backwards. The mutants converged towards her from either side as they closed in on their target. The invader on her right reached the human first, so she greeted him with a swift kick to the stomach as he was readying to strike with his blades. That one gasped momentarily as he was forced to take several steps backwards. The mutant on her left reached her then as he swung his right blade horizontally, aiming for her neck. Sonya ducked in enough time to see the blade flying overhead. Seeing the mutant from the right returning for another chance, she grabbed the overhead wrist belonging to the left nomad and pushed it along with its original curve. With her added momentum after it, the left mutant wasn't able to stop his right arm from swinging when he wanted it to, so his right blade found its mark in the chest of the mutant at her right. That one shrieked and blindly swung with both blades as he felt the knife entering his rib cage. Sonya was already out of his range as she dropped low and quickly staggered to the spot where her pistol rested on the ground. By the time the mutant on her left pulled his blade out of his comrade and looked towards the native, he was looking down the muzzle of her pistol. One pull of the trigger sent a 9mm round into his forehead and he dropped dead on the ground.

Kazuya emerged from the doorway of the building as the third mutant who had been previously kneed by her finally stood back up, though still in more pain than he cared for. Seeing both his fellow nomads dead on either side and the two natives standing in front of him, he decided to turn around and began running as fast as he could away from the humans. Dismissing him as a threat, Sonya rotated where she stood in the hopes of finally spotting the mutants who had carried off Reiko. Unfortunately, that hope was too optimistic since the only person she found alive within her line of sight was the young Mishima.

"Where is Reiko?", Kazuya asked out loud although he did not want to hear the answer.

"They took him", she informed, "They got away from me".

"From us", he corrected.

"Yeah", Sonya's irritated expression met his, "From us".

"What is it?", he noticed the accusing stare.

"Why didn't you stay with him like I told you?", she demanded, her voice more stern than usual.

"I reasoned you would need my assistance", Kazuya justified his previous reaction to proceed after her into the building.

"I was fine!", she snapped at him, "That guy in the building was dead whether me alone or we both went in there, but now Reiko's gone too. We knew he couldn't watch out for himself, you should've been there to back him up in case trouble appeared".

"I'm sorry", his expressionless face looked in the direction she had aimed at in her search for Reiko's kidnappers, "It was my fault. We should give chase".

"What the hell for?", she holstered the weapon, "He's gone".

"He may still be alive", he protested as he turned back to her.

"No", she shook her head, "I haven't seen those bladed freaks spare a single human that they ran into so far. I doubt they'd start now".

"But...", Kazuya was lost for words while staring back into the direction where the mutants had taken their human prize, "I cannot be responsible for the death of yet another person".

"It's OK", her voice was more courteous as she patted him on the arm, "But there's nothing we can do for him now except to win this damn war with him in mind".

"But...", he stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Come on", Sonya patted him on the shoulder, "We gotta go back to 5th and Bluetane. That's where we can put an end to all this hell".

Kazuya didn't want to admit it, but he realized she was right. Reiko was just another casualty of war, a casualty that he could've prevented if he had been more careful. He followed her as they both proceeded towards their original destination. It wasn't long before Sonya brought up the statement that had been clinging to her mind ever since she heard it. Her curiosity demanded that she find out more about this dark stranger who served as her partner after having met only a short time ago amid such dangerous enemies.

"For yet another death?", she repeated his words, "What did you mean by that?".

Kazuya said nothing, only kept marching towards their objective.

"I understand if you're too freaked to tell me, but I think you want to", she added, "Besides, there's a good chance that one or both of us won't make it out of this alive, so it's not like I'm gonna be able to go on a talk show to tell the whole world about you once everything goes back to normal".

She had hoped to get a chuckle out of him with her last statement, but she was disappointed. She was about to drop the whole subject when he actually answered.

"You were leading that platoon against me in my own world because I was partly responsible for the Shao Kahn's invasion", Kazuya blurted out, still staring straight ahead.

Sonya didn't think anything could surprise her, but she found out she was wrong.

"Come again?", she asked, stopping.

"I made a deal with the Shao Kahn to be his human partner", he stopped also as he looked slightly down into her blue eyes, "It was under different circumstances. His invasion was an imminent one, just like here, so I took advantage of it".

"Really?", she crossed her arms in front of her chest, hoping he didn't notice that one of her hands had crept closer towards the shoulder-holstered firearm.

"Killing me now will do no nothing for you or your realm", he had noticed as he turned partly away and stared down the empty street, taking a few steps towards it.

Disappointed, she lowered her arms by either side, though still staying ready to reach for the pistol.

"I had thought that the Shao Kahn had to start by stealing the souls of this earth that were the most evil. I believed I was saving the world", he briefly explained, "At least that is what the devil inside of me had me convinced. I expected the Kahn to take every corrupt soul from my realm and then I planned to destroy him, getting rid of both him and his souls, thus making the world a better place".

"Makes sense on paper, I suppose", she said, "But then again, a lot of things do, and then almost never do in the real world. Am I right?".

"Correct", Kazuya turned to her with a slight smile on his face, "There were so many variables when it came to the Kahn's method of choosing so-called 'evil' souls that the procedure was seriously flawed. It took the actions of a very brave police officer to point that out for me, and even then I did not understand what he was telling me right away".

He turned his attention back down the streets, unable to stare into her eyes for more than a few seconds.

"Instead, I attempted to kill him for his efforts", he exhaled, not wanting to relive the memory after having done so a countless number of times in the Black Abyss.

"Oh", was her only response as she began relaxing her guard.

"And that is not the worst part", Kazuya added, "In order to try to beat the Shao Kahn, I had to tap into the same black arts that he did. I had to steal souls to increase my power. I planned to take the souls of the chosen ones, yours included, to ensure that I could destroy the Kahn when I did meet him in single combatat the end. The madness only ended when my brother was finally able to betray me, and that is when I took my own life and my captive souls were released".

"Wow", Sonya sighed, "I had no idea. But you felt confident enough to take Kahn out? Was that wise? I mean, this guy was, like, over 10,000 years old. How old were you?".

"28", Kazuya gave a frank response.

"Right", she explained, "This guy didn't last this long by putting himself at risk. Isn't it possible that there were things that he never told you that he planned to use against you on the off chance that you'd turn on him?".

"Yes, that is a possibility", he admitted, "But I couldn't realize it back then. Nothing could convince me that what I was doing was wrong, just like nothing could convince me to lower my guard. The police officer was only able to trick me into lowering my mystical barrier against him by expressing doubts about my ability to beat the Kahn. Nothing other than that could have worked".

"You must be some kind of a superhero", she thought out loud, "Someone who's trying to make a whole new world, huh?".

"A hero I was not. On the positive side, the Shao Kahn _was_ defeated in my realm", he told her, "I do not know how, but my soul was freed from his grasp after he had acquired it, as all souls are after their captor is defeated through single combat or killed. It was afterwards that I took myself into the Black Abyss despite my brother's insistence that I follow him to the Gray Kingdom, I could not risk exposing the world to me ever again".

"Great, about Kahn being beaten, I mean. Maybe that means that Liu will be able to drop him like the bad habit that he is once...", Sonya was interrupted.

"Liu?", Kazuya asked, surprised to hear the name, "Liu Kang?".

"Yeah", she told him, "You know him?".

"Know him?", he chuckled, "He was sent to challenge me. Awesome warrior, he was. He never got the chance, however, because my friend Lei had beaten him to me".

"Neato", she went on, "So if you know Liu and me, wadda you know about Johnny Cage?".

"You mean the actor?", Kazuya inquired.

"Uhuh", she nodded.

"I know nothing about him, I'm afraid", he had to admit.

"Oh. Oh well", Sonya shrugged, "Two out of three ain't bad, though".

She took a few steps closer to him.

"I can't say I agree with you shoving yourself into this abyss place, though", she told him, "You were dead, so what kind of a threat is that to the realm of the living? And punishment to yourself is one thing, but it does nothing to atone for your victims themselves, I mean, right?. Going to this gray place with your brother might've been the right thing for both you and everyone there that you had wronged. You could've let them confront you there, gotten the whole mess over with".

He did not answer at first, only looked away.

"I cannot face them", his voice was down to a shaky whisper, "I've killed too many individuals for the sole purpose of taking their souls. But even that was easy when compared to when I've even taken someone's soul while leaving his body alive. It was an extremely difficult task that I committed purposefully just so he'd know how I felt when I had given mine to the Kahn in our bargain".

"But you're totally, like, on our side now, right?", she asked out loud even though she already knew the answer.

"Ever since I've gotten my soul back, yes", he nodded.

He was shocked when she placed her arms around his upper back and gave him a hug.

"What was that for?", he asked with the agitation still apparent on his face when he pulled away.

"I dunno, I just thought you needed it", she smiled.

"Please", Kazuya turned away from her and began walking towards their original destination, "_Never_ do that again".

She walked after him, not willing to let the conversation end there.

"So, if you could take souls then, does that mean you can do it now also?", she asked.

Kazuya only replied with a sharp look, one that told her she should know better than to ask such questions.

"No", he finally answered, "Only a few humans from my realm were capable of sorcery, whether it being for good, such as healing, or for evil. I could do both, but I do not feel that kind of aura in this realm. I'm sure that this realm's inhabitants are not capable of such necromancy, which is a blessing".

"A shame", Sonya commented, "We might've been able to use that against Kahn".

"Are you mad!", Kazuya stopped and raised his voice for the first time as he appeared irate, "Did you not hear everything that I just told you?".

"I was just saying that...", she was interrupted.

"Necromancy corrupts the soul!", he calmed down enough to lower his tone of voice, "Most of my personality was destroyed when I undertook that black art. No one should ever engage in it, for any reason. Even if such an act was possible on this realm, which it's not, I would never take another life for the purpose of using that person's soul for any reason whatsoever! Not if it's a soul of pure and noble intent, either, or even the one soul that is stronger than that".

"OK, OK", she bent her arms and raised her palms towards him, "I was just thinking out loud for any ideas that we might use against Kahn, that's all. But just out of curiosity, I'm guessing that your soul of pure or whatever intent gives its necremancer the most power. But what's stronger than it?".

"You _know_ I will not tell you. It doesn't matter now. But regardless, I'm sorry about my outburst", he rubbed his forehead, "Your realm's inhabitants _will_ beat the Kahn, I hope, but they will not have to use such sorcery to do so. The whole subject is a very sensitive one for me. I hope you understand".

"Yeah, sure thing", she told him, "Come on, we better keep heading towards that teleport Rayden has waiting for us".

The teleportation spot was exactly where the thunder god had told them it was. It looked like a small, grayish tornado, except that it stood in place, made no noise and created no wind whatsoever. Both fighters approached it slowly and carefully as the immobile twister waited with silent patience. Once he stood near the place, Kazuya thrust his right forearm into it and he couldn't see his hand inside of it even though the teleport was transparent.

"I feel nothing", the young Mishima told her.

"So we should go in, right?", Sonya looked up at him.

His silence told her he agreed, so they both took one long step towards the teleport and disappeared into it. They had hoped to find a new environment on the other side, one that they could recognize as Chthon's lair, but that did not happen. Instead, both fighters found themselves stuck inside the portal as a grayish wall surrounded them everywhere.

"What is this?", Sonya looked over her head and below her feet to see nothing but gray.

"I wish I knew", Kazuya replied, "I never experienced this when I teleported either myself or others in my realm".

He heard her sighing with impatience. He knew that she wanted to be fighting the invaders' armies with her friends, instead they were both stuck in between two spaces and not standing in either one.

"Rayden warned us that there might be some time fluctuations during a teleport, did he not?", Kazuya reminded her, "My guess is that this is what we are currently experiencing".

"Great", she whispered under her breath.

"So what do we do now?", the young Mishima thought out loud.

Sonya yawned rather involuntarily, an action that Kazuya noticed.

"When was the last time you got some rest?", he asked.

"Don't tell me you're concerned", she commented in a softer, more weary voice.

"I _am_", he replied in a more attentive tone, "I cannot have my partner falling asleep when we engage the enemy".

"My heart's melting", she smiled by using a sarcastic voice as she yawned again.

"Maybe you should get some rest. We can go back where we came from", Kazuya suggested.

"No way!", Sonya protested, "I wanna be awake when the shooting starts and I want that to be as soon as possible. I'll get all the rest I need when Kahn's been broken".

"I did not know that the Shao Kahn was susceptible to bullets", the young Mishima replied, feeling confused.

"No, no, it's a figure of speech that idiots in the military use", she told him, "Don't worry about it".

Another yawn followed.

"I could wake you up after a short time", he offered, wishing for her to get some repose.

She only shook her head in response.

"Why are you so eager to confront the Kahn as soon as possible?", Kazuya wondered out loud in a calm voice.

"I have to, allright?", her reply was more exasperated, "Let's just do this damn thing!".

The expressionless look he gave her was enough to calm her down.

"The longer we wait before beating him, the more people die", Sonya explained in a softer tone.

She laughed after that statement, but it wasn't a humorous chuckle.

"You know, I actually lost count of the number of partners I had lost ever since I first ran into the Black Dragons", she finally told him as she turned to face the other end of the portal, "Even partners I only had for a short time, it's annoying. Besides, I gotta do this while I'm still in a pumped-up mood and before common sense overtakes me and I get scared".

The feeling overtook Kazuya as Sonya was finishing her remark. The young Mishima saw his partner's lips moving, but he could no longer hear any words that she spoke. Instead, the sight in front of his eyes faded and it wasn't long because he no longer saw her or the inside of the portal which surrounded them both. Kazuya saw the same kind of vision that Rayden had provided him with back when the thunder god had visited him in the Black Abyss. Kazuya saw the same technologically advanced earth realm from thousands of years ago as its inhabitants were slaughtered at the hands of Chthon and Shinnok. The bloodshed was a massive one, he could easily distinguish that, but the young Mishima could also see that some of the humans had survived,. Some earth inhabitants had seeked shelter after being forced to abandon the large number of deceased and soul-less victims behind. It was then that Kazuya saw Rayden soaring through the sky in an effort to intercept the demon Shinnok. The thunder god hurled into the demon with a violent impact. Kazuya couldn't clearly see the occurrences any more because the vision began to fade. He did sense one last emotion before the illusion disappeared altogether, though. It was one of oblivion, as if everyone and everything alive had suddenly died.

Kazuya opened his eyes in time to see Sonya slapping him in the face with an open right palm. He flickered his eyes a few times as he felt momentarily dazed and stepped back without even realizing it.

"I'm sorry", Sonya walked after him to make sure he was unhurt, "I thought I had lost you there for a sec. You just stared right ahead but you wouldn't respond to anything that I said".

"Uh", he inhaled and exhaled several times hard.

"What happened?", she sounded concerned, "You know, maybe we should go back to earth and get some rest before proceeding towards Chthon. I think you need...".

"I am fine", he held up his right palm towards her in front of his chest, "Thank you for your consideration. I was merely experiencing a... a...".

"A what?", she asked him.

"A residue of what occurs when one is presented with a vision from an external source", he told her at the same time that he understood what just happened, "Some scenes are witnessed by the subconscious and do not surface for the conscious mind until later".

"Come again?", Sonya was confused.

"He did not tell me everything", Kazuya's face became more tense, "Rayden lied to me. He said Shinnok had destroyed the earth realm thousands of years ago, but that was not so".

"If not Shinnok, then who?", she wanted him continue.

"All life on earth was destroyed", he added, "But not simply because of Shinnok's desire to absorb it all. The earth was annihilated as a result of Rayden's interference against the demon. He was as responsible for the death of that prehistoric earth as Shinnok was. He just neglected to mention that".

"Are you sure?", Sonya questioned, "That doesn't sound like Ray...".

She was interrupted by a spark of electricity which appeared several feet away from them inside the portal. Recognizing it, Sonya turned partly in its direction as she waited for the spark to enlarge into the size of an adult man before the deity stood in its place.

"You lied to me!", Kazuya pointed an accusing right index finger towards Rayden.

"No", the deity shook his head as he appeared sad, "I simply did not tell you the whole truth".

"You said that Shinnok destroyed the earth!", the young Mishima remembered.

"I specifically said that Shinnok's actions resulted in the destruction of the earth realm", Rayden remained calm, as opposed to his infuriated accuser, "The fact that his actions prompted me to respond, leading to a conflict which annihilated all life on earth, was something I had hoped to keep from the vision I sent into your mind. Obviously it did not turn out to be so".

"That is why you are afraid to fight against Shinnok for a second time?", he added, this time with less anger in his voice, "It was your conflict itself with his necromancy which destroyed the world".

"Yes. I was prepared to do battle with Shinnok. _Too_ prepared", the god admitted in a dry voice, "I was given a second chance to be the earth's protector when life reappeared millennia later, a chance I did not deserve".

"Well, I do not blame you for the earth's annihilation", Kazuya surprised him, "I know all too well how one can destroy something in an attempt to save it. But you should have trusted me with that information when I was sent on a mission to thwart the demon".

"You are correct", the deity bowed, "I apologize. If you wish to continue with your mission into Chthon's lair, the portal will take you there in a short time".

"Yeah, definitely", Sonya answered for the both of them.

Giving the hint of a smile, Rayden turned into a shapeless mass of electricity before vanishing into the air. Behind him, a small hole appeared in the wall of the portal and began expanding until it was large enough for a person to walk through. Recognizing the way out to their final destination, Sonya gripped Kazuya's left shoulder with her right hand to get his attention.

"You ready, superhero?", she asked after he turned his face to lock eyes with her.

"Yes", he affirmed.

"Great", she yawned one last time as she covered her mouth with a left hand, "Let's go".

They both walked towards the opening and stepped through it one at a time. The portal shrank into nothingness behind them as both fighters looked ahead. The first sight was that of a red monster which seemed to be sitting inside a lava pool. They were on the first floor of a two-story lair.

xxxxxxxxxx

Shinnok used all his captive souls to his advantage. His necromancy enabled him to react stronger and faster than he could ever have hoped for on his own. The demon dodged aside as Liu sailed through the air past him in a flying kick. Landing on his feet, the monk turned around and rushed back towards his opponent, hoping that he could defeat this necromancer in the same way he defeated Shang Tsung during the tournament, which is to say with simple, unadulterated talent in the face of such dark and supposedly superior sorcery.

A right punch flew towards Shinnok's face. The demon grabbed the monk's right fist as it was only inches short of his face and squeezed that one's knuckles. Liu pressed his teeth together as his eyes locked with the red demon's while he felt his fingers being crushed against each other. Not giving up, the human sent his left fist towards the right side of Shinnok's jaw, only to have the demon intercept that second attempt with another grip.

They remained in that fashion for several heartbeats, eyes locked with each other, looking like two statues who were merely standing still but were in truth pushing against each other with all the strength available to them. Liu broke the standstill first. The monk jumped backwards into the air with a scream, his legs leaving the ground as his body was raised horizontally and then pushed as far behind him as possible. With the monk swinging his legs upwards in a circular fashion, the red demon was forced to lift his own arms to react since Liu was soon upside-down as his hands were still locked with Shinnok's. Liu pulled his arms towards him while turning in midair before Shinnok's grip finally let them slip out of his own hands. Frustrated, the demon did not have enough time to react while Liu swung behind his standing form and gripped both his shoulders from the back as he then lowered his body back to a standing position behind Shinnok. Liu's feet slammed into the demon's lower back and sent his opponent staggering forward with a scream that was filled with an insulting pain. It was only then that the monk's feet touched the ground exactly behind the demon.

The demon turned around to face his antagonist, growing impatient with the seemingly infinite resilience that the human showed. He stood his ground as the monk ran up to him, feeling confident he could recognize that one's attack and counter it before it was executed. Liu bent his right leg and vaulted into the air with his entire body supported on his left one. He began swinging his waistline as well as straightening his right leg towards the left. Shinnok understood that the mortal was trying to accomplish a roundhouse kick while in midair aimed for the left half of his face, so he reacted accordingly. The demon lifted his left forearm in an effort to intercept the kick, and then felt foolish because he realized the attempted kick had been only a diversion, one which worked exactly as it was intended. With his opponent blocking the left side of the head, Liu withdrew his right leg while pulling his left leg ahead of his stomach. After having both legs bent at the knee, he sent a powerful kick with both legs into the demon's unprotected solar plexus. Shinnok screamed from pain alone as he was catapulted backwards before landing hard on his back several yards away. Liu fell down on his back also but jumped back to his feet almost instantly, as opposed to the slow, agonized climb Shinnok had to endure to regain his foothold on the ground. The opponents locked eyes as the demon staggered to a standing position.

"You've proven to be more annoying than expected", the red demon spoke harshly, complimenting his adversary even though he did not wish to, "A pity, really. I was hoping to enjoy stifling the life out of you. It seems like I will have to take your life from a distance instead".

With the monk wondering what he meant, Shinnok closed both fists into themselves. He opened his hands to reveal two razor-brimmed paper fans, one held in each hand. Liu's eyes widened when he recognized Kitana's fans as he wondered how the demon could accomplish someone else's signature move.

Then it made sense. Smoke had informed them that Shinnok had taken Kitana' soul, so it wasn't inconceivable that the demon now had access to the princess' abilities also. Liu wasn't able to think about it much longer because Shinnok threw the fans from twenty yards away. Both projectiles glided smoothly through the air in a semicircle, so that the two fans put together were following the circumference of a circle. The monk gasped when he realized that he stood at the exact spot where the two semicircles met. Hoping he was doing the right thing, Liu stood on place until both fans were almost upon him. With the projectiles only feet away from their target, the monk dropped flat on his stomach and was glad to see that both fans flew overhead. Missing their target, the fans returned to their point of origin as they sailed back towards Shinnok.

The demon ignored the fans which flew his way as he glided over the twenty yards of ground at a speed much faster than a mortal could walk or even run. He sped towards the monk as Liu was getting back up and was standing in front of him even before the earth kombatant stood up straight. Liu felt the steel grip of the demon's right hand on his throat before he was violently pulled up to his feet and then felt his back being slammed against the wall of the lair.

"Did you really think your gymnastics could be a match for my strength?", bellowed Shinnok as his face burned into Liu's, "Your mortal energy is nothing when compared to the power I receive through necromancy. Too bad for you that you never learned that".

Shinnok pulled his right arm towards him before straightening it again, banging the back of Liu's head against the wall as a result. A punch with his left fist bloodied Liu's jaw as the monk tried to think of a plan. Liu screamed as he gripped the demon's shoulders and pushed forward with all his might. Shinnok was driven back until his own back crashed against the column that Liu had used to distract him to prevent the theft of Johnny's soul. Feeling unaffected, the demon violently thrust his right arm ahead and sent the monk flying backwards through the air before Liu landed hard on his back about fifteen yards away. Struggling to stand back up with a painful moan, the human saw the demon gliding inches over the ground towards him. With Shinnok close enough to be getting ready to get his hands on the stubborn earth native, Liu executed a leg sweep. His right ankle met the demon's feet, but since his adversary was not standing on the ground itself, but hovering a few inches above it, the monk's ankle barely touched the bottom of the demon's feet and then sailed underneath them. Unaffected, the demon gave an angry seethe before picking the struggling monk up by his throat and tossing him backwards through the air for a second time. Liu found himself flying helplessly in a semicircle before his back felt the hard ground below yet again. He ignored the pain engulfing his spine as he pulled himself up to his feet and faced the ever-advancing demon.

Taking one step forward on his left leg, Liu twisted to his left and extended his right leg ahead of him as he sailed through the air in a powerful flying kick as a headlong attempt to turn the tide of this confrontation. To his extreme frustration, Shinnok remained standing tall as the bottom of Liu's right foot slammed into the blue barrier several inches in front of the demon's chest. Liu bounced off the magical obstacle and crashed on the ground on his right side before turning involuntarily on his stomach. While laboring to get back up on his hands and knees, he felt Shinnok gripping the hair at the back of his head before the red demon pulled him up to his full height. Liu next saw the blue magical barrier one more time, except this time it did not form a wall in front of his adversary to protect him. Instead, the blue wall bent inward until it engulfed the monk and wrapped him completely from his shoulders down to his feet, completely forbidding all movement except for his head.

Liu desperately tried to struggle, he attempted to free his arms and his legs, but to no avail. The barrier was as flexible as rubber, but stronger than steel, the resulting power of a countless number of stolen souls. The monk's shrieks became louder when he saw Shinnok calmly lifting him off the ground and then proceeding towards the edge of the lava pool while a satisfied smile occupied the demon's face. With only two more yards before the demon was standing on the edge of the pool, the earth kombatant saw his end coming.

"And after I send you to the same fate you sent my sorcerer, I'll make good use of your unconscious friend back there", Shinnok laughed as he pointed at Johnny's still motionless form.

"I'LL SEE YOU IN HELL FOR THIS, COWARD!", Liu yelled as he felt the extreme heat of the lava while Shinnok finally stopped at the edge of the pool, staring down into it.

The demon wanted to give his vanquished opponent the chance to contemplate his death because he knew from experience that few things were as much fun as watching the fear on someone's face when that person realized that death was imminent and inescapable. Just as Shinnok had enough fun looking forward to the act and was ready to actually toss the restrained monk into the lava, though, he was overcome with a totally new emotion. A voice that was not his own emerged out of his mouth.

"NOOOOOO!", the demon screamed out loud.

The yell caught Liu's attention because he recognized the voice as Kitana's even though it had emerged from within the demon. Shinnok's body shook and convulsed several times as he stood on the edge of the pool, still holding on to Liu.

"GET BACK!", Shinnok cried out in his own voice, "THE MONK IS MINE TO DESTROY!".

"NEVER!", Kitana's voice replied from within the demon's own mouth.

Acting against his will, Shinnok lost control of his arms for an instant as the soul he had been exercising total domination over just rebelled. Kitana's soul took command of the demon's arms as Shinnok threw Liu down on the ground behind him and to his left as opposed to tossing him into the lava. With an involuntary flick of the thumb from Shinnok, the blue force restraining the monk also disappeared, freeing the kombatant instantly as Liu bounced back to his feet into a fighting stance. The demon then turned around to face the human.

"Finish him, Liu!", Kitana's voice addressed the monk from within Shinnok as the demon stared at the mortal kombat champion, "Do it now, while I still have control of...".

Kitana's voice was interrupted as Shinnok's enraged accent returned. The demon gave out a yell as he tried to rebuild his blue barrier, but this time he wasn't fast enough. He saw Liu flying towards him at an angle aiming away from the lava pool behind him. Liu's flying kick slammed into Shinnok's chest and the demon cried out in pain as he crashed back into the stone column behind him. He bounced off the column and then landed on the ground below, a defeated and broken demon. Liu landed on his feet as he saw Shinnok convulsing twice while the demon groaned in pain and turned to lie on his back. The monk walked up to him and looked down upon the demon's face after reaching him.

"Let's see your necromancy get you out of this", Liu dropped down on his knees as he used his downward swing to also send a left fist into Shinnok's face.

The demon screamed out in agony as blood exploded out of his nose.

"You cannot do this!", he hissed as the monk hoisted him up to his feet after gripping his neck with a left grasp.

"You have been defeated in single combat", Liu declared, pointing at the demon's face with his right index finger, "You now have to release all your captive souls or face self-destruction".

Shinnok only spat back at him.

"Have it your way", the monk seemed unaffected.

Liu dragged Shinnok's heavy bulk towards the edge of the pool. The demon did not even realize what the earth kombatant planned to do with him before he felt a kick delivered into the back of his left knee. Shinnok yelled yet again as he dropped down on his knees and Liu secured a grip on the back of his neck. That was the last time the red demon breathed the hot hair which emerged from the lava because the next scene he was aware of was that of Liu pushing his torso towards the still pool. The demon sensed his head being submerged in the lava as Liu restrained his neck just above the level of the liquid fire. The only factor which prevented the demon's head from vaporizing instantly was the large amount of sorcery which he used to protect his physical form, but even that had its limits. Shinnok wanted to scream louder, but no sound emerged from him as lava entered his open mouth and burned everything it came into contact with. The demon's arms and legs kicked out desperately above the level of the pool, only to find that his reactions had no effect because Liu's grip confined his head in its place. Liu smelled flesh burning for several seconds before he finally pulled the demon's head out of the lava and then tossed Shinnok several yards away against the nearest column. The demon's upper back rested against the stone support as his facial features were burned beyond recognition, leaving only a hideous red skull where his head had once been. From the low hissing sound which emerged from the skull's mouth, Liu could tell the demon was still alive despite the ordeal he had just been exposed to.

Feeling no pity, the monk walked up to the defeated demon and kicked him in the head before a bright beam of light shot out of Shinnok's eyes and mouth. Covering his face with his right forearm, Liu took three steps back as he watched the spectacle unfold. All the souls which had been used to empower the demon's force, including Kitana's and Jarek's, were given their freedom. Liu saw Kitana walking out of the light until she was close enough to touch his hand with hers. It all reminded the monk of his encounter with his younger brother after he had defeated Shang Tsung during the tenth tournament, a memory he had wished he would never have to experience again.

"Thank you", Kitana smiled at him.

"I couldn't have done it without you", the monk told her.

"Glad to help", the Outworld princess replied, "I just wish I could stay with you longer".

"Me too", he admitted.

"Don't worry, Liu", she brought her face closer to his as she placed her left palm on his face, "I will see you soon enough in the next world. Until then, your friends need you".

She kissed him once on the lips before she was slowly pulled backwards until she joined the procession of souls leaving Shinnok's body and then heading towards the sky through Chthon's lair. Liu didn't even get a chance to hold her hand like he had done with his younger brother's soul, a fact he hated. An endless stream of souls were still busy exiting the demon's eyes when Liu saw Kitana's soul disappear past the lair and into the sky. Despite the occurrences near the ceiling of the lair, his attention was then diverted by the sound of movement. Liu turned his focus back towards the demon as Shinnok was wearily lifting his left arm into the air and towards Chthon.

"D...", the demon gasped with a cough, "Desssstroy... him".

Responding as the loyal servant, Chthon bellowed as it tossed a fireball towards Liu's exact location. The monk only had enough time to dive aside as the projectile burned the ground below where he used to be. The monk ran past Shinnok and down the hallway as he kept dodging several burning missiles from the giant monster who stood in the lava pool. It was after he had narrowly escaped approximately ten fireballs from above before Liu spotted the portal down the hallway towards which he was currently running. Not knowing who was about to emerge from it, the kombatant headed in its direction. He was about twenty steps away from it when a figure appeared out of the portal and stood in place. Reiko calmly remained standing in front of the portal with his arms crossed in front of his chest as he saw Liu running towards him.

"RUN!", Liu motioned ahead of himself with his right arm, "DO NOT REMAIN STILL!".

The earth kombatant reached the visitor within a short time and was about to warn him about Chthon's attacks in case that one had not noticed it yet. With Liu just three steps away and trying to get a hold of the stranger because he was convinced that anyone left standing still would be struck by a projectile, Reiko extended his right arm. A sledge hammer materialized in Reiko's hand just before the visitor swung the enchanted weapon horizontally. The heavy end of the hammer crashed into Liu's face and dislocated his jaw as the monk was hurled backwards before falling down on the ground. Surprised, the monk was about to climb back up to his feet when he saw Reiko rushing towards him while still holding the hammer. Gasping, Liu rolled on the ground to distance himself from the human attacker before he clumsily jumped back into a standing position. Proving to be a relentless aggressor, Reiko said nothing as he kept advancing. The monk ducked as the attacker swung, the hammer flying harmlessly over his own head. Before Reiko had a chance to regain a fighting stance, Liu delivered a solid right hook into his face, but felt as if the right fist had met a wall. Even more surprised at his opponent's apparent strength, the earth kombatant's eyes widened as Reiko lifted the sledge hammer vertically over his own head with amazing speed. The heavy end of the hammer crashed into Liu's forehead and the monk fell down unconscious from the blow without even realizing he had been struck.

Chthon stopped firing towards the ground below as it saw the new arrival. Not having the human from earth to worry about at the present time, Reiko wore a stern expression on his face as he stepped over Liu's unconscious body and had his eyes preoccupied by a sight ahead of him. The bulky weapon in his hand vanished amid a countless number of white sparks as he kept approaching the downed red demon. Shinnok noticed the new arrival as well as the look that individual was throwing at him but was unable to react even if he wanted to. Reiko finally stopped advancing when he stood about five yards in front of the demon and they both locked eyes with each other.

"So", Reiko spoke first, "_You're_ the one who has come here to try to steal the souls that I had rightfully stolen first, huh?".

Shinnok only coughed in response, his face still in a blazing agony.

"Pathetic", Reiko went on, "I had thought you would put up a better challenge".

With that, Reiko aimed his right palm down towards the demon before a green fireball shot out of it. The projectile struck Shinnok in the chest and the whole lair echoed with the demon's cries. Quietly enjoying the show, though it did not appear so from his facial expression, Reiko adamantly watched as the demon was engulfed in green fire and burned alive for approximately thirty seconds.

Shinnok stopped moving altogether as his remains fell towards the ground as a pile of bones and ashes. A portion of the souls he had stolen were still busy exiting their captivity out of him at the time of his death, as Reiko noticed. Reiko then stretched both his palms towards the exodus of souls and concentrated. Hearing dozens of howls at once, Reiko pulled the souls who hadn't gone past the ceiling of the lair towards him. It was only a moment afterwards that the souls involuntarily formed a massive cloud and the entire cloud entered Reiko through both eyes.

Reiko screamed in triumph as his arms were outstretched towards the second floor.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Baraka was standing with his head lowered as he was busy carving his nomad tribe's symbol inside the exposed entrails of the slave who was lying on the ground on his back. He was currently inside one of his master's large factories and could hear the almost deafening sound of metal striking either stone or other pieces of metal in the background. The mutant traced the outer silhouette of the desired symbol with his left blade at the present time after he had already used his right blade to do most of the work. The tip of the left knife punctured the intestines and began outlining among them as Baraka heard his name being called from a distant.

Baraka growled without raising his head. He hated being interrupted by anyone other than Mileena or Shao Kahn, the former because he enjoyed her company and the latter because the Kahn was the one individual who could scare him enough to make him forget his dislike.

"BARAKA!", the voice called for the second time.

Again no response from the nomad.

The caller came closer, still not disturbing the mutant's artwork until he was near enough that Baraka could hear his approaching footsteps.

"I suppose we better stop, heh?", Baraka asked the slave whose stomach he was working in.

That man did not answer, only returned the same blank stare he had been giving him with his open eyes ever since the mutant had slit his throat half an hour ago.

Raising his head finally, the nomad turned to his left to see Reptile standing about ten yards away. The green ninja wore his human disguise at the present time as he had his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"You are needed back there", the ninja pointed behind him with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Don't tell me you can't handle a few hundred slaves by yourself", Baraka grinned as he withdrew his left arm away from his latest kill before walking up to stand face to face with the shorter ninja.

"I would do just fine if your significant other in purple did not distract me on a regular basis by fondling the male slaves because you can never satisfy her", the ninja appeared to be grinning under his green mask.

Baraka howled at the insult as he raised both arms, blades ready to strike. The ninja quickly took two long steps backwards before turning into his fighting stance. The smaller warrior then reached for his chin with his left hand before pulling his human disguise off, revealing a green lizard-like face.

"You wisssshhhh to confront me, nomad?", the lizard hissed, his voice having changed.

The mutant did not respond, he knew of Reptile's abilities enough so that even he was careful enough not to pick a fight with the green ninja when not needed.

"What are the oddssss that I can burn your pretty facccce before you can cover the disssstancccce between you and I?", the ninja dared.

Despite the desire to slice the ninja's body parts off, Baraka knew when the risk was not worth taking. He lowered his arms by his sides as he walked towards the lizard-like creature.

"It is only because master keeps you around as his personal entertainer that I do not strike you dead", the mutant lied as he walked past the ninja,

"I'm ssssure", Reptile told him, "But do not fret. Life will be back to normal when the masssster returnssss from hissss vissssit on the earth realm. I am missssssssing hissss pressssencccce alsssso. I haven't killed a sssslave over the pit for almosssst a day, I am experienccccing withdrawal ssssymptomssss".

With that, the green ninja replaced his counterfeit human face as he followed the mutant back to the assembly line of the factory. Baraka could never get used to how natural the human disguise appeared when the ninja used it, he doubted that even most humans could tell that the ninja was not one of them when masked.

"Are the living weapons ready yet?", the mutant felt annoyed as he proceeded towards the loud metallic noises, "These cursed humans are so slow. Too bad the master saw it fit to exterminate the Shokanites. Lousy as they were, they could work faster".

"Yes", the ninja agreed as his human voice had returned along with the disguise, "The weapons are ready to be sent out towards the earth realm in the unlikely case that the natives there repel our invasion".

"I still don't know why that is necessary", Baraka replied, "Even if Smoke is gone, earth natives stand no chance against us".

"Perhaps", Reptile went on, "But the master chose to play it safe, especially after losing the Centaur division of our army. If earth does not bend to our rule, these living weapons will make sure it is destroyed".

There was a moment of silence as they both approached Mileena, who in her turn kept an eye out on the humans who were unloading the raw pieces of metal not used in the construction. A slave, either unconscious or dead, lay motionless a step away from her feet, but she ignored him for the time being.

"I just wish I knew where on the earth realm the master went", Reptile went on, "I have never seen a time when he left his realm without informing us of his precise destination".

"Beloved!", Mileena exclaimed as she saw the two of them coming closer.

The lady in purple ran, jumped up and embraced the 7-foot tall mutant as she whirred loudly while her feet dangled at least a foot over the level of the factory floor.

"I have great news", she informed Baraka once she separated from him and came back down on her own feet, "I have just been informed of the master's orders. If earth successfully resists, the master had given instructions that you and I should take the living weapons into the portal. He has already given Shang Tsung instructions on where to create a portal for".

"Wonnnderful", Baraka thought out loud, "Just the two of us, a mission well-planned".

"Not just the two of you", Reptile countered from three steps away from the pair.

Both Baraka and Mileena turned their attention to him, disliking what he had just said.

"You don't think I will trust you two ignoramuses to lead such an important mission in case it becomes necessary, do you?", the green ninja went on.

"The orders were...", Mileena protested as she lowered her face towards him, not a good sign for whomever she was addressing, but Reptile did not appear concerned.

"The orders were for you two, but master did not specify that no one may accompany you, that I am sure of", the ninja interrupted.

"Maybe", Mileena pulled out a sai with her right hand from out of nowhere, or at least so it seemed, "Maybe not".

She hissed as she moved towards him with the weapon, only to see the ninja reacting in a speed that was almost too fast for her eyes to follow. Before she was able to complete her first step towards him, Reptile had gripped her right wrist with his left hand while at the same time placing a stranglehold on her neck with his right hand. Anticipating Baraka's interference, the green ninja saw the mutant rushing at him from the corner of his left eye and delivered a perfect side kick with his left leg. His left foot crashed into Baraka's solar plexus and the large mutant flew backwards in a smooth semicircle before landing hard on his back. Having neutralized that threat, Reptile bent down as he sent Mileena's back against the ground in a violent impact that was painful enough for her to lose her right grip on the sai.

Reptile released his grips on her neck and wrist, but before Mileena could even take a breath, much less strike back, he planted his right foot against her throat. He could've crushed her windpipe easily, but the ninja purposefully pressed down on his foot with enough strength to strangle his opponent without killing her. He then pulled his human disguise off before looking down into her widened eyes.

"You wisssshhhh to protesssst?", the lizard hissed angrily.

Mileena had witnessed the kind of damage the lizard ninja's saliva could do against the slaves who had been forced to fight him, and she also saw him getting ready to send his saliva down towards her. Gasping for air, she only shook her head to the best of her abilities as his foot restricted most movement from her head.

"Good!", Reptile's lizard-like face grinned a sadistic smile, indicating that he might not have spared her life.

"Reptile", the name was called out from behind the green ninja in a calm, authoritative tone.

The ninja instantly lifted his right leg off Mileena's throat and took one step back as he lowered his head in respect. Mileena gasped for air and looked up, not having heard the arrival of the person who had ordered the green ninja to release her by only calling his name. Baraka was already walking back to the scene as he pressed his left palm against his chest as Shang Tsung approached the trio from behind them.

"Enough of this", the sorcerer told all three of them as he crossed his arms behind his back.

"Ssssorry, masssster", Reptile promptly replaced his human disguise after lifting his head and still remaining at attention.

"You are needed to send the living weapons towards the earth realm in case it successfully resists", Shang Tsung went on, eyeing all the individuals there, "And Reptile will go with you because I will accompany you, and since he is my personal bodyguard, his presence will be required also. The three of you shall be led by me".

"You!", Mileena felt as shocked as she sounded when she stood back up, rubbing her throat.

"Yes, unless anyone here has a problem with that", the sorcerer icily replied.

Mileena shook her head as Baraka looked away and Reptile remained standing in attention. The silence lasted for several heartbeats.

"Why would you want to go to earth in a mission to destroy it?", Mileena finally blurted out, unable to contain her curiosity.

Shang Tsung shot a cold stare at her, his face tightening in anger. Mileena's eyes widened as she quickly questioned the sensibility of such an inquiry.

"My reasons for going there are my own", the sorcerer whispered, his words almost cutting through the air between himself and the warrior in purple, "And I doubt the emperor would be satisfied by trusting such an important mission to you, no matter what his orders were".

With that, Shang Tsung turned away from the trio and walked back to where he had come from, leaving Shao Kahn's three servants behind.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh damn!", Sonya blurted out involuntarily as she caught sight of Chthon.

Kazuya said nothing, quickly turning his attention towards the direction that the monster was staring at instead. He followed the monster's gaze until he was looking at a scene which was exactly ahead of them, about thirty yards away. Sonya soon looked ahead also before she recognized the immobile form on the ground to be Liu's. Neither she nor Kazuya recognized the person who stood over the monk, but she withdrew her 9mm pistol rather than take chances.

Reiko, on the other hand, was still getting used to the power surge he had felt after absorbing such a large number of new souls when he heard Sonya's two words from behind him. He turned around and, disappointed at the inconvenience of having the two humans here, tried to figure out the best way to dispose of them.

"Reiko!", Sonya gasped out in surprise.

She lowered the weapon until it was pointing towards the ground.

"Yes", Reiko smiled, "So you made it here after all. I was following you two until you led me to Rayden's portal because I did not know where that washout Shinnok was located. Rayden actually helped me without realizing it. Too bad for you two that you had to follow me".

Neither Kazuya nor Sonya understood how Reiko was still alive, much less how he found his way to the lair. They both cautiously approached him, Sonya having raised the firearm at a degree off the ground as she gripped the handle of the weapon with both hands. The mystery of Reiko's presence seemed to suddenly unravel, though, as a cloud wrapped around the man that the young Mishima and Sonya were watching. They could see his silhouette from inside the cloud as Reiko shrieked momentarily. Then, they both saw the silhouette becoming taller and more muscular. Sonya's eyes and mouth widened as Kazuya was abruptly overcome with a sensation. He remembered that he had only felt such a sensation once in his life, and that was only when he had been in the presence of the Shao Kahn. His face hardened as he stopped walking towards Reiko and turned into his fighting stance. He placed one his hands on Sonya's shoulder as an indication for her to stop moving towards Reiko also. Turning towards him long enough to see the new predatory expression in Kazuya's eyes, she stopped walking forward also, though she still did not understand.

"Get behind me!", Kazuya whispered an order as his eyes were still set on the cloud in which the enlarging Reiko was engulfed.

They were both standing partly in front of a stone column while Sonya was about to protest that she was not going to hide behind him or anyone, but she never got the chance to say anything because they next heard laughter coming from inside the cloud.

"HAHAHAAAAAAAAAA!", the maniacal laughter did not sound like Reiko's voice any more as the cloud dissipated.

In Reiko's place stood a seven-foot tall colossal individual who locked his blood-red eyes with both Kazuya and Sonya. He wore only a red belt strap along with red shin guards and red shoulder straps, both of which were covered with sharp spikes. His forehead was covered with six thorns, three on the left and three on the right, with several smaller thorns in between them. His entire body was covered with tight, bulging muscles.

"Shang Tsung might have been my student", the new individual gave an evil smile, "But that does not mean a student could never teach his master new tricks".

"I don't get it", Sonya kept switching from the person who stood fifteen yards ahead to Kazuya who was next to her and vice versa, "Who...".

"I decided to visit this realm when I sensed your arrival", the seven-foot tall muscular individual pointed at Kazuya, ignoring her altogether, "I couldn't comprehend the new aura I felt from the new visitor to the earth realm. This visitor carried my redolence all around him, as if he had come into extremely personal contact with me, but I had no knowledge of who he was nor any recollection of ever coming into contact with him. My curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to look in on you, to see how it was that you knew me but I did not know you. I still do not understand the answer to that question, I am sorry to say".

"I _do_ know you", Kazuya gave a cold reply, "From a parallel universe only. You serve the same purpose there...".

"Will either of you make some sense?", Sonya thought out loud in the middle of his statement.

"...as you do here", the young Mishima went on, "You destroy worlds for your own pleasure, for your sole satisfaction... Isn't that right, emperor Kahn?".

His last words chilled Sonya's senses as she finally realized the person who had accompanied her the entire time after she had met Kazuya had been the epitome of evil itself.

"Oh well", Kahn grimaced, "Now that I know who you are, I suppose your souls will make a fine addition to my collection, quiet pure they are, you know".

Shao Kahn pointed his right palm towards the pair.

"There's just that exasperating factor of you two being alive", he added, "But I will fix that soon enough".

A green fireball shot out of his palm, aiming for the pair. Both Sonya and Kazuya jumped aside to avoid it and did so successfully. The projectile tore into the column behind them and shattered a large hole in it, spraying the area around it with a countless number of stones. An approximately rectangular-shaped rock which was almost a foot long and several inches wide struck the young Mishima on the side of the face, knocking him down on his hands and knees. Remaining on her feet from sheer luck, Sonya leveled the firearm ahead of her face with both arms straight as she fired. Half a dozen rounds shot out of the muzzle of the weapon and went straight for Shao Kahn's head and torso. Kahn moved his right arm around his upper body in motion that was too quick for the human eye to follow. Disappointed to see him still standing, Sonya stopped firing for now to survey the damage the six bullets had done. Kahn smiled as he opened his right hand and six bullets fell out of his palm before hitting the floor by his feet. Sonya exhaled angrily as she tossed the firearm on the ground, turned into a fighting stance and remained motionless as her eyes remained locked with his. Kahn didn't get a chance to strike back.

"WIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!", she let out an ear-piercing yell.

The earth kombatant bolted towards her much larger adversary. The first strike she delivered upon reaching him was a right side kick into his stomach. Kahn closed his eyes momentarily as he slightly bent down from the impact. He stood back up straight and swung with a left fist, which would have proven to be a powerful blow had it connected with its intended target, which was her head. Sonya ducked enough so that his fist met air, though, and she then stood up to execute a roundhouse kick, the result of which was that the back of her ankle met his upper arm but did no real damage since her leg recoiled off his body.

Not wanting to give him another chance to strike back, she twisted to her left as her bent right leg shot up, straightening before it met his left upper arm. Kahn stepped back as she advanced upon him, sending a high right jab which connected with his solar plexus. Still unhurt, Shao Kahn kept stepping back as Sonya continued delivering a left front kick into his chest. He took yet another step back from the latest kick, and only grinned in response. Not disheartened, she sent a left side kick into his right knee, hoping to be able to break it, although she knew that such an expectation was probably too optimistic. She was right because her opponent's face did not even register the slightest hint of pain.

Sonya turned to her right as her left fist flew towards Kahn's solar plexus yet again. Kahn took another step back while his left palm was raised to meet her fist. The earth kombatant's fist crashed into his palm and Sonya's eyes widened as she felt pain shooting up her left arm. She screamed involuntarily as she withdrew her left forearm and gripped the left wrist with her right hand.

"AAAGGGHHH! MOTHERFUCKER!", she yelled at no one in particular as she partly turned away from Kahn and slightly bent down.

The distraction on her part lasted only a second, but it was long enough for Kahn to take advantage of it. A white spear appeared in his right hand amid numerous sparks as he gripped the back of Sonya's neck with his left hand and roughly turned her so she faced his right arm. He had his right arm lowered by his side with the tip of the spear pointing forward. Without even giving her enough time to realize what he was about to do, Shao Kahn stabbed the earth kombatant through the stomach with the spear. Sonya's body was bent in half at the stomach as Kahn thrust the spear in an upward motion and lifted her body several inches off the ground through the process. The tip of the spear exited out of her lower back as she opened her mouth and eyes wide with shock and blood exploded out of her mouth. Still coughing blood, she was brought back down on her feet as Kahn pulled the bloody spear out of her stomach, which then vanished from his hand as quickly as it had appeared. Sonya's legs collapsed, unable to hold her weight up. She would have crashed on the ground, but Kahn kept her standing by gripping her throat with a left fist.

"That was for disposing of Motaro's body and making it impossible for me to reclaim my army of Centaurs", Kahn barked, looking down into her blank stare while her blood poured on his left wrist.

He picked the gasping female human a foot off the ground before headbutting her in the face. Sonya's head snapped back as Kahn's forehead broke her nose and she saw stars. Shao Kahn finally released her throat and she fell the distance that separated her from the floor before lying on the ground as a mangled form.

"I will take your worthless soul once you are dead, which should be any time now", he declared standing over her body, "It's just too bad I am unable to pull your soul while you're alive like that wretch Shinnok could, but I will get yours soon enough".

Kahn turned away from the downed kombatant as he surveyed the surrounding lair.

"Impressive place", he addressed the human on the floor who couldn't respond, "Maybe I will see what I can do about that lava beast after I'm done with you and your friends".

With that, Kahn turned back to Sonya and, enjoying the sight of her lying on her back in an ever-expanding pool of blood, stepped on her neck in an attempt to break it since that was the only way he could take the kombatant's soul as his own.

"KAHN!", the voice was ferocious enough to get the emperor's attention.

The seven-foot tall antagonist turned to see an irate Kazuya approaching as he held his arms in front of his chest in a stance. The arrival of the mysterious human presented a puzzle for Kahn that he wished he did not have to solve at the present time. If the emperor had killed Sonya now, he would only have had a few seconds to take her soul, but Kazuya could've taken advantage of his distraction by attacking him as he did so. On the other hand, if Kahn killed Sonya now and turned away from her corpse to face Kazuya's attack, her soul would have escaped from his possession. The emperor did not like either option, so he realized he had to force himself to let the human female die naturally by bleeding to death so he could have taken her soul after crushing the secretive human male first.

"Good, you're alive to fight me", Kahn grinned as he lifted his foot off Sonya, "I wouldn't have it any other way. But not here. Come to the second floor, if you dare. The view is much better from up there, and the loser gets a freefall trip down below".

With that, Kahn was engulfed in the same cloud as before and the fog surrounding him then vanished, and the emperor was gone with it. Kazuya was running towards Sonya even before that one was gone as he only paid attention to trying to save her life. The young Mishima knelt behind her and lifted her shoulders before resting the back of her head in his arms. The female kombatant could only cough, gasp and try to inhale air as more blood emerged out of her mouth. Kazuya finally realized that she was choking on her own blood when she reached up and backwards before grasping his left forearm with her left hand. The young Mishima had just remembered that he needed to turn her around on her stomach so she wouldn't be suffocated when Sonya began going into shock.

Feeling desperate, Kazuya withdrew both his arms from behind her and let the back of her head touch the ground. He didn't even realize he was capable of saving her life, but rather reacted by instinct as he quickly stood up, took one step until he was standing next to her stomach and then squatted down next to her. Looking down into the mortal wound that Kahn had afflicted on her stomach, Kazuya gently rested his right palm on it. Before he knew it, he felt energy discharging out of his palm and then entering the wound. Sonya's mouth and eyes widened as much as possible and her midsection shot several inches off the ground from the impact while her legs and torso remained fixed on the ground. Kazuya paid no attention to her reaction, he only maintained the energy link he had already created with her for several more seconds before finally withdrawing his palm. The female kombatant's midsection crashed back down towards the floor as she returned to lying flat on her back. The only difference now was that Sonya coughed violently and sat up under her own power. Blood that used to be in her mouth spilled out onto her already stained halter, but she then found out that she could breath just fine. She instinctively passed her right hand over her bare stomach to feel the piercing wound caused by Kahn's spear, but only found a healed dark scar which was closed instead.

Seeing the result, Kazuya stood up feeling relieved as Sonya kept massaging her stomach to make sure she wasn't imagining what she felt. She kept wiping the blood off her flesh as she rubbed it, but the old blood dripped off her and no new blood replaced it. Looking up at him with an expression that was a mix of comfort and shock, she tried to stand up also, only to lose her balance and find herself falling back down. Kazuya reached down and gripped her shoulders to keep her from crashing against the hard floor again before helping her back up to her feet. She was still panting when she was finally on her own two feet right in front of him and her eyes locked with his.

"Not that I'm not grateful, mind you", she whispered, lifting a bloody left hand next to her head, "But how the hell did you do that?".

"I am not sure", he had to admit, "I merely followed my instinct".

"What...", she looked back down at her stomach, "What did you do?".

"I used sorcery", Kazuya understood at last.

"I...", Sonya was still recovering from the momentary shock she had endured while wounded, "I thought you had said sorcery was not possible in this realm".

"I cannot explain it", the young Mishima admitted, "It is not important now, either".

He took several steps past her, combing the second floor of the lair with his eyes.

"He's up there", he meant Kahn, "The only important mission right now is to destroy him".

"Uh, yeah", the female kombatant replied, "Let me... Let me check on Liu there. I'll be right with you afterwards".

"No!", Kazuya sharply countered, turning his face back towards her, "You stay here. This is between him and me".

"Uhuh", Sonya shook her head, "We're a team, rem...".

"You're too weak in your condition", he interrupted, walking away from her and heading down the hallway, hoping to be able to find a stairway to reach the second floor.

"Hey!", she called out after him, "You can't...".

"You have to stay with Liu", Kazuya interrupted again as he got farther away, his cold gaze still staring at the second floor.

"But you'll never beat him!", Sonya's voice rang with urgency, "He's got so many souls helping him, you've got none!".

"The second half of your statement is true", he replied, feeling confident, "I will beat him because I have righteousness on my side".

Unable to suppress his impatience to confront Kahn, and not wanting her to follow him, the young Mishima suddenly bolted down the hallway instead of walking. He inhaled and exhaled on a constant basis as his angry face tightened in anticipation of meeting the enemy while maintaining the run down the first floor of the lair.

"Oh man!", Sonya told herself as she watched him go, "He's _dead_ if that's the only thing he's counting on".

Sonya wanted to go after him, but knew she couldn't as soon as she walked one step in his direction and felt dizzy from a loss of blood. She pressed her right palm on her forehead as she staggered towards the far wall away from the lava pit. Using the wall to support herself, she was about to head towards where Liu lay motionless several yards in front of her when she heard a deep noise from behind. Turning around, Sonya gasped once when she saw three thin zombies slowly walking towards her from the exact position where her firearm rested on the ground about fifteen yards away. Liu was lying about twice as far in the direction in front of her, so the zombies would have gotten to her first and then to him.

"Oh great", she thought out loud as the zombies came closer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shao Kahn was already on the second floor, looking straight ahead as he stood next to the elevator shaft. He was staring ahead, examining Chthon's massive structure. It wasn't long before the lava monster, realizing that it was returning the glance of the creature who had killed its monster, began opening fire. Chthon roared, lifted its right arm and threw a fireball in Kahn's direction. The emperor grinned as he easily sidestepped the projectile, which crashed into the wall behind him. Chthon roared again, irate at having missed its target, and it fired again.

The emperor had evaded at least two dozen such projectiles from the monster before he finally heard the elevator behind him being used by someone below. The elevator platform hummed as it carried a passenger to the second floor. Shao Kahn turned around as Chthon stopped firing, curiosity as to the identity of the new visitor having overtaken the monster. The emperor wasn't surprised when he found Kazuya's calm but determined gaze staring back at him when the elevator stopped on the second floor. Kazuya had his head slightly lowered as his eyes were locked with Kahn's while he stepped off the elevator, which then proceeded to go back downstairs. The floor they were both standing on had a wall on one side, where the elevator shaft was located, but was an empty edge of the other side, leading to the lava pool below.

"About time", Kahn almost acted like his human enemy was late for an appointment, "I have been dodging missiles from Shinnok's pet for quiet a while just so you would know my location. Fun, those missiles are. Perfect exercise, if I ever needed it, which I don't. But I still would not want to get hit by one of them, could ruin my complexion... Or yours".

"I have been waiting a long time for this", the young Mishima told his adversary.

"If you say so", the larger emperor stood ready, "Assuming that you will last longer than a dozen heartbeats against me".

About ten yards separated the two opponents when Kahn turned into his simple fighting stance.

"Personally, I think I will crush you even faster than I did my last victim", Kahn grinned, "But let's make this fight into an interesting one. I bet I do not even need to be myself to crush you within just a few heartbeats".

Kazuya was waiting for him to make his point, so he did.

"I used to have a general", the emperor went on, remembering with fondness, "His mere sight alone was enough to bring instant fear and despair into the hearts of most of his opponents. That's how he won a majority of his fights anyway, almost every human was so shocked at seeing him for the first time that they could not put up a decent resistance. And those few that did never lasted long anyway".

A new cloud engulfed the seven-foot tall emperor. Shao Kahn's frame became even larger, approximately 18 inches taller and several hundreds of pounds heavier. The cloud then vanished, leaving the emperor alone after he had taken the shape of his latest desired character outside of his natural appearance.

"They used to call him Goro", Kahn grinned as he had morphed into the shape of the Prince of Pain, "Awesome was his might. There are still legends about him, even after his loss in the tenth tournament".

Goro-Kahn kept his eyes locked with the human, his grin widening ever more.

"Of course", the emperor added slowly, enjoying every clear word, "If my usual frame could've destroyed you in a few heartbeats, just try to imagine how quickly the task can be accomplished with this body of mine".

Kazuya had enough. The young Mishima leapt high into the air as he remained in his standing position, aiming for the emperor who now possessed four arms rather than two. He flew in a high semi-circle which reached at least half a dozen yards into the air before starting to come back down because of gravity. By the time Kazuya's body approached the floor, he was reaching the spot where Goro-Kahn stood. On his way down, the young Mishima lifted his left leg high in a front kick and held it there until he overtook the emperor. It was only when he was close enough to the massive emperor that Kazuya pulled his left leg downward, bringing the back of his left ankle down on the top of Goro-Kahn's head. The force of his front kick, increased greatly by the descending motion of the high semicircle he had jumped, was strong enough to daze even the emperor, though only momentarily.

Landing on his feet, Kazuya delivered his left fist into the side of the emperor's stomach. Before Goro-Kahn was able to strike back, the young Mishima sent a right uppercut into his opponent's chin, and then followed it with a right punch into Goro-Kahn's stomach. The pseudo Shokanite bent down, however slightly, under the impact, but his head had reached down far enough for Kazuya to twist to his own left to kick the larger necromancer in the head. Kazuya's right ankle crashed into the side of Goro-Kahn's face and the emperor found himself spinning around about half a dozen times before crashing horizontally against the floor. Groaning and shocked, Goro-Kahn cursed under this breath as he climbed on his four hands and two knees. Before he was able to stand back up, Kazuya quickly walked up to him and kicked him in the side of his right knee, thus knocking him back down flat on his stomach. The young Mishima took several steps back as he heard the emperor cursing louder.

"Do you wish to try another tactic?", a relaxed Kazuya asked him as the emperor stood back up on his feet from several steps away and reverted back to his usual, seven-foot tall figure.

The young Mishima noticed that Kahn was now wearing the steel mask on his face, the metallic disguise that Kazuya always remembered the Shao Kahn having in his former universe. The skull-shaped mask only allowed the emperor's two red eyes to be shown to anyone who looked at him from outside of it, all other aspects of his face were hidden.

"Allright, how's this?", Kahn fired a green fireball in his opponent's direction.

The emperor had hoped to be able to vaporize the annoying human with that one projectile, but he was disappointed when the mortal jumped aside and the fireball impacted into the wall and dissipated. Kazuya rolled on the ground before rising on his feet, an action which cost him precious seconds since the impressive emperor was already upon him even before he was standing at his full height. What followed was as rapid as it was brutal. Shao Kahn rushed forward into Kazuya, smashing his right shoulder into the human's face. The fighter from earth flew backwards into the air before crashing into the wall behind him, blood dripping out of his nose and mouth. Kahn charged after his target, reaching the dazed human and withdrawing a giant stone hammer from thin air. He lifted the heavy weapon over his own head and swung it downward, aiming for the human's head. Kazuya saw the hammer coming down on him soon enough so that he was able to duck low and try to roll out of the way. He didn't get far, but was able to put enough distance between himself and Kahn that the hammer crashed into the wall behind him and he was only hit by small pieces of stone which exploded from the impact.

"You believe you can run from me forever?", the emperor asked as the hammer vanished from his hand and the human rolled away from the wall and stood back up.

Chthon began firing its burning projectiles towards both of them as he had finished that last statement, but it missed its initial attempts because Kazuya had advanced against Kahn yet again, driving him backwards with a series of quick punches to the head and torso. The human first drove his right fist into Kahn's solar plexus, added a left downward punch into the emperor's forehead as soon as that one bent down slightly, an action which sent Kahn's entire torso bending forward against his will, before Kazuya finished off the set with a right uppercut into his lowered chin. Shao Kahn was hurled backwards even farther as Chthon's fireballs tore into the wall behind him with ferocity, leaving their mark, while both combatants continued fighting. Ignoring his bloodied hands which had been injured from striking Kahn's steel mask, Kazuya bolted for his opponent.

Undaunted, Kahn rushed back forward and delivered a left front kick into Kazuya's midsection, a strike that sent the human flying backwards in a horizontal line before painfully landing on his back about fifteen steps away. The young Mishima felt his ribs cracking from the impact of the kick, but tried to ignore the pain as he pressed his teeth together while getting back up. He had barely stood when a red fireball made of lava shot past him right in front of his eyes, missing him by about a foot before hitting the wall further away. Chthon apparently no longer cared which of the two it hit now that its master was dead. The lack of preference on the monster's part did not help the earth warrior because the unmasked emperor soon reached him again. Kahn delivered a powerful right hook punch, which connected perfectly with Kazuya's jaw, and the emperor was quick enough to then send his right elbow into the human's face also before that one even dropped to the floor. Having felt the impact of both hits almost simultaneously, Kazuya saw stars and dropped on his hands and knees as more blood trickled out of his nose and mouth. Recognizing defeat when he saw it, Kahn proudly pulled out his hammer once more as yet another fireball shot past him about a foot away from his upper back. The emperor seemed to have forgotten about the lava monster as he smiled down on the beaten human, trying to savor the moment before the fatal blow was delivered with the hammer.

"Pathetic, like the rest of your race", Kahn grinned, looking down at him, although his facial expression remained forever hidden, "This is why your humans will serve as nothing but a... meal for me on the long run".

With that, Kahn raised the hammer over his head, ready to strike one last time.

"I might a well tell you a little secret before you see oblivion and find yourself as my eternal slave", the emperor's mask hid his grin, "I cannot be killed, not by the likes of you. The elder gods know that many others such as yourself have tried before, none has succeeded. This is because I partly owe my existence to inhabitants from the earth realm, and partly to the inhabitants of all other realm also".

Shao Kahn hissed air into his mouth, still holding the hammer over his own head, but obviously had not finished talking about himself.

"I was born at the onset of time itself, representing the epitome of evil", the emperor added, "Being fed the souls of human vice every time a depraved person died. And evil actions on the part of humans have always existed, and always will. That is what ensures my immortality".

Kazuya looked up and saw new images being thrown into his mind as the emperor talked, images which referred to what Kahn was mentioning. Shao Kahn showed the earth warrior the portraits of humans, generally men with a few women interrupting the mostly-male exhibition. The faces shot past his eyes quickly and the young Mishima didn't recognize most of them, but did distinguish Adolph Hitler as an exception. Joseph Stalin was the next one to be identified after several seconds later. Some of the portraits were dressed in modern clothing, some in clothing which referred to the middle ages, some still seemed to come from prehistoric times. Then, Kazuya caught a glimpse of his father also, the elder Mishima's face shot past his eyes as quickly as the others had, though he doubted that the emperor had made the connection between the two humans. Either way, this indicated to Kazuya that his father was dead in this world and had not been much different in this universe when compared to the one from which he had arrived.

"Their existence created me", Kahn went on, "And their continued existence sustains me".

It was inescapable that Kazuya linked the faces that were being shown by Kahn to himself after he had traded his soul to the previous Shao Kahn in his own universe. Tears traced a path from his eyes and downward on both cheeks as the young Mishima remembered his actions as well as the fate that the emperor was planning for him. It was then that he recalled enough of his past to forget about his aching ribcage and even his aching head. He saw the sight of the Peace Corps massacre, the bodies which had been left behind after the soldiers had finished their pointless slaughter of everyone in the church. The human knew that the enemy he was fighting with at the present time was a predator just like those soldiers had been, and any physical and mental pain was worth tolerating as long as it destroyed predators like the Shao Kahn. As the hammer swung down, with the vicious emperor behind it eagerly waiting for his latest kill, Kahn saw something surprising.

Kazuya's right hand shot up as his face hardened and the tears stopped. His upper body was raised from the ground as it switched to being supported on his left hand and knees alone. His right grip held on to the handle just below the head of the hammer despite the force with which Kahn was swinging it downward against him. Kahn's eyes widened with shock as the human next stood on his knees and placed both his hands around the handle of the massive weapon, struggling for its possession as both fighters locked eyes. Kazuya's determined gaze met Kahn's bewildered one for a short time before the emperor's facial expression toughened again, his desire to kill the annoying human now joined with anger because of that one's apparent omnipotence. It was only after Kazuya stood up on his own two feet and went against the immortal on equal terms that Kahn decided to make the hammer vanish into thin air, which it did. As two fireballs shot past them, one on either side, Shao Kahn headbutted the shorter human in the face, sending that one staggering backwards.

Kazuya screamed as he gathered his concentration and counterattacked. He crouched down on his left knee and kicked out with his right leg, his right ankle meeting the side of Kahn's left knee. The kick did not have the desired effect since the emperor remained standing. Gripping the human by the neck, Kahn tossed him aside, a move which sent the earth fighter staggering until he neared the edge of the second floor. With his back facing a 200-yard drop into the lava pool and with Kahn advancing against him from the front, Kazuya gambled on the one noise he heard from behind. He went on the assumption that Chthon was readying to hurl another fireball aimed at him. As Kahn to about three yards away from him, readying to strike one more time to send the human to his doom below, Kazuya dropped flat on his stomach. His assumption proved right since a fireball shot above him, past the spot where his upper back was previously located when he stood up straight. With him lying on the floor, the fireball struck Kahn in the solar plexus instead and the emperor's scream echoed throughout the lair as his torso was engulfed in flames. Kazuya took advantage of the fact that Kahn was momentarily standing in place while burning as the human executed a leg sweep. Kazuya's ankle met Kahn's and the emperor crashed down on his side before rolling involuntarily towards the open end of the second floor. Kazuya jumped back up to his feet and took several steps towards the wall as the emperor rolled over the edge of the second floor and was heard screaming as he fell down until he finally hit the lava below and disappeared into it.

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Sonya, in the meantime, was busy fighting off three zombies at once. It was bad enough that the mindless creatures seemed to want her dead as all three converged against her at once, but she was now responsible for Liu's safety also. If the zombies had gotten past her, the monk would not have stood a chance, assuming he was alive, that is. Since the kombatant did not know the status of her comrade, she had to presume that he was still alive while considering any action, so trying to run away at the present time was not an option. She wished it was, though. Even in her weakened condition, she was sure she could have outran her three unintelligent attackers since they were moving very slowly. Hating the fact that she had to stand her ground, Sonya turned into her fighting stance and actually moved towards the zombies. She reasoned that she was going to have to fight them sooner or later, and her chances of winning the confrontation would have been better the closer she was to her handgun.

"Oooogggghhhh", the first zombie whined as it met her and tried to claw at her face while she was only four yards away from the weapon.

It didn't get to do anything else because Sonya placed her hands on either side of its head and grunted as she turned its head sharply counterclockwise. She heard a satisfying crack and grinned before the zombie dropped to the ground with a broken neck. The second and third opponents, though, were not so careless. The second zombie lifted its left arm before swinging it downward on her head. Sonya screamed as its clawed fingers carved a deep scar on her face, beginning just next to the left eye and tearing the flesh for several inches until it stopped on top of her old scar on the left cheek. A fraction of an inch closer to the eye socket would've meant a blow which would have blinded the eye. She wasn't going to give the two remaining antagonists a chance to strike again, so she dropped down on her left knee as the third zombie raised its right arm to attack in its own turn.

Sonya legsweeped the second zombie with her right leg and that one dropped on its side with a whispered groan. Standing back up on her feet, the kombatant felt the third zombie clutching at her face with its left hand. It gripped her mouth, digging its claws into both her cheeks, as it attempted to hold her head steady in order to strike with its right hand. Sonya screamed and delivered a right front kick into its stomach at the same time. That zombie took several involuntary steps backwards, stopping about a yard behind the handgun, but not before tearing flesh out of both sides of her face first. Feeling several sources of sharp pain in her head, she next felt the second zombie grabbing both her upper arms from behind her with surprising strength, trying to restrain her in such a way for its partner. Sonya screamed again as she threw her head back, hoping to be able to smash the back of her head into its face, but the tactic did not work. She lifted her right foot and slammed it downward on top of its own right foot, but the zombie showed no sign of pain as its grip did not loosen.

The kombatant had no more ideas as she saw the third zombie walking back towards her. Feeling desperate, she pushed herself forward, carrying the second zombie on her back, as she tried to reach the handgun before the third antagonist reached her. Sonya fell down on her right side next to the weapon with the zombie still hanging stubbornly behind her. The second adversary did not give up its grip, but the fall against the floor loosened its grasp on her upper arms enough for her to pull them free. Still lying on her right side next to the feet of the third zombie, she dove forward until she felt the reassuring handle of the 9mm Glock pistol in her right hand. Turning around to her left while still on the ground, she swung the firearm downward so that the muzzle of the handgun crashed into the jaw of the second zombie behind her. That one momentarily moaned in pain while Sonya turned back and held her breath as she anxiously aimed upwards with the weapon. One pull of the trigger sent a bullet into the forehead of the standing third zombie. The thin antagonist dropped on his back without a sound as she then struggled to stand up before the second zombie behind her would be able to strike again. Breathing again, she succeeded on rising to her feet and turning around to face that one as it was still lying on its right side on the ground. Stepping backwards and away from him, Sonya put several yards in between herself and it as she gripped the pistol with her right hand. She straightened her right arm, aimed downward into the zombie's forehead and pulled the trigger once. Its body convulsed once before it stopped moving altogether.

All moaning stopped after that. Sonya groaned in pain as she carefully touched the new wounds on her face for an instant with her left hand. Seeing blood on her left fingers as a result, she thought it was a blessing that there were no mirrors in this realm as she slowly proceeded towards Liu's position, her senses ready in case she ran into any more zombies because the handgun was ready to be used this time. Not seeing or hearing any, she finally reached the monk, squatted next to him and placed two bloody left fingers on his throat as she held her breath again. Glad to be feeling a pulse, Sonya patted her fellow kombatant on the shoulder and gave a tiny smile.

It was then that the heard another moan, this time from in front of her. She looked up to see four more thin zombies limping towards her from about fifteen yards away. Wishing they would just leave her alone, Sonya remained in a squatted position and gripped the pistol with both hands.

"The nice thing about technology...", she told herself, "...is that it really evens the odds".

She pulled the trigger twice, two bullets entering the chest of the zombie to the furthest left. That one took two steps back before resuming its trek towards her. Surprised, Sonya stood up as she quickly decided to aim for her opponents' head only. A third bullet into that zombie's forehead dropped it dead on the ground. It was only a switch from one zombie to another after that, each aimed at the forehead and being stopped cold with one pull of the trigger.

She next looked in the direction where Kazuya had run to reach Shao Kahn. It was a gamble to leave the unconscious monk behind, as she wasn't sure that there were no new zombies in the area, but she reasoned that defeating Kahn took precedence over everything else. Promising to herself that she would return for Liu as soon as possible, Sonya proceeded ahead, remembering that she had six bullets left in the handgun.

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Kazuya stood up, turned around and looked down into the lava pool as the Shao Kahn's screams had ceased. He saw Chthon reaching into the lava with its right hand, as if in an effort to try to retrieve the fallen emperor. For several instants, the monster appeared to have the reactions of an anxious child who was digging through a jar full of candy. It wanted to recover the remains of the individual responsible for ultimately killing its master, even if that meant leaving everyone else in this realm alone for now.

Although the young Mishima was hopeful that the lava would be enough to kill the Shao Kahn, he objectively feared that it may not be. So with Kazuya anxiously watching the event below him with interest, the monster kept digging in the burning pool. It was a few instants before Chthon ceased combing the bottom of the pool floor with its hand and looked away from the pool and straight ahead. Kazuya momentarily believed that the monster was looking at him, but soon found out that it was not the case as Chthon next raised its head towards the ceiling and gave out a yell. The sheer volume of the scream was enough to send the young Mishima covering his ears by instinct and staggering backwards until his upper back pressed against the wall behind him. With his eyes kept open, Kazuya looked at the giant lava monster, wondering why it was crying out in such a way. He wasn't sure, but he thought that its cries resembled the cries of pain more than anything else. Chthon withdrew its hand from the pool and was now violently waving its arms in the air, its huge hands reaching about a hundred yards in each direction.

The monster's apparent torture lasted for a few more heartbeats before Chthon suddenly exploded. Kazuya gave out an involuntary yell as he dropped down on his stomach, covering his head with his arms, while a countless number of pieces of burning flesh spread everywhere in the lair. Fragments of Chthon's body, both large and small ones, flew aimlessly in every direction, some of them having struck the wall around where the young Mishima was lying.

It was only after the extremely loud sound from the spontaneous detonation had ceased and all of the blistering pieces of the monster had come to rest around him that Kazuya thought it safe to stand back up. He inhaled and exhaled several times as he rose back to his feet, realizing that the temperature around his environment had just increased by about ten degrees. Expecting the worst, the young Mishima carefully walked back towards the edge of the second floor to take a look down at the lava pool below. While he was only halfway towards the edge, he saw a masked Shao Kahn rising vertically through the air as the emperor seemed to have emerged out of the lava pool itself. Kazuya only saw his adversary after that one had already risen into the air about fifty yards out of the pool, and then continued to climb upwards as he stood up straight, all the time facing the direction towards the earth fighter, so as to confront him. The emperor finally stopped his upwards travel when he reached the same level as the second floor that Kazuya was standing on, totally immobile in a fighting stance.

"AS I SAID", the emperor howled, standing on air from about a hundred yards away from the edge of the second floor, "TOTALLY UNSTOPPABLE".

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As that occurred, Johnny gasped as he suddenly woke up in another part of the first floor. The actor instinctively placed a right palm against the back of his head, trying to cope with the tremendous headache he was experiencing. It took him several seconds before he remembered what had taken place to knock him unconscious. The kombatant then recalled Shinnok, and thus lifted his upper body off the floor, combing the area around him to see signs which would indicate one way or another how Liu Kang had fared against the demon.

Climbing slowly back on his feet, the kombatant had to hold on to the wall behind him to make sure he didn't lose his balance as he tried to adjust his eyes to the brightness of the lava ahead of him. He didn't realize that Chthon was no longer inside the lava pool, that fact escaped him as he was busy visually searching the first floor. He first saw Smoke as the cyborg still lay motionless in a seated position with his back to the wall a few steps away. Taking his eyes off the metallic kombatant, the actor next noticed the charred remains of a corpse relatively nearby.

Johnny gasped again, afraid that the body might have been Liu's. Half running and half staggering in the corpse's direction, the actor reached it quickly before squatting next to it. It was only after examining the hot cadaver from a closer position and noticing a few small pieces of red clothes which surrounded it that the kombatant was able to sigh in relief. The skeleton and ashes were actually several inches taller than Liu, and the scraps of red clothes around it indicating to him that the body belonged to Shinnok. Feeling glad, Johnny stood back up on his feet as he then walked back to where Smoke lay, still without noticing Chthon's absence.

Having reached the cyborg, the actor finally became aware of the large, red spots of red ink which seemed to be everywhere around him. He wasn't covered by them, but he saw that Smoke was, as was the area around where he had been lying before. Squatting next to the cyborg, Johnny came closer to the ink spots to notice that they weren't ink at all, but rather what appeared to be pieces of meat.

"Meat?", Johnny asked out loud as he touched the first one he saw with his right hand to push it off the cyborg.

His eyes widened in pain as his right fingers felt like they had touched fire. Quickly withdrawing his hand, the kombatant fell backwards and had to bring his left arm behind him to keep from crashing back-first on the floor. Standing up and holding on to his right wrist as he blew air into those fingers, the actor finally figured out that those were bloody pieces of hot flesh.

"Oh my Rayden", he told himself as he finally turned around and looked in the direction of the lava pool, at last figuring out that Chthon was not there.

"Could this be him?", Johnny asked as his attention turned back down towards the cyborg.

Not knowing the answer, he quickly used his foot to clear the pieces of flesh which were lying on Smoke. Having done so, the actor squatted next to him again and then rested his left palm on the cyborg's face, hoping to get some kind of a reaction even though he did not expect to see any. It soon became apparent that the cyborg was no longer functional and Johnny was forced to acknowledge the fact.

"Sorry pal", the actor whispered as he stood back up.

The kombatant walked away from his metallic ally, eager to find Liu. Before seeing the monk anywhere, the first sight he witnessed was movement inside the lava pool. A masked, large human-like shape emerged out of the lava and rose high vertically through the air, not even having seen the actor. The masked figure rose until it stood on air at the same height as the second floor before it screamed to someone who was apparently on the second floor itself.

"AS I SAID, TOTALLY UNSTOPPABLE", the actor heard the masked figure declaring.

Johnny did not knew who was on the second floor, but now knew that he was heading in that direction.

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With that, Shao Kahn turned his body in midair and flew horizontally towards Kazuya. The human only had enough time to twist the right side of his body backwards before the gliding emperor flew by his right, barely missing him. The emperor landed on his feet just shy of the wall and turned around at the same time that the earth warrior twisted where he stood also. Both adversaries faced each other from several steps away, trying to guess what was on the other person's mind. It was Shao Kahn who acted first, though. The emperor placed his wrists together and pointed both palms towards the smaller human. Green inferno poured out of his palms and shot towards Kazuya. The young Mishima gasped, raised his forearms ahead of his chest and, as a result, produced a spontaneous shield inches in front of his torso. The thick tongue of fire emerging from the emperor's hands struck the human's shield and expanded around it. Although spared from coming into contact with the tongue of fire itself, Kazuya screamed out in pain as he was pushed one step backwards and then fell down on the floor on his back from the sheer heat of the fire alone. Lying flat on his back, Kazuya tried to raise his upper body but found out he couldn't as Kahn lowered his own arms so that the flames found their new mark on the floor instead since his target was no longer standing. The fact that the impromptu shield was present was the only factor which prevented him from being burned to ashes within an instant, but the shield's power was evidently decreasing while the emperor's fire did not diminish in strength. Any attempt to roll aside and out of the path of the green inferno threatened to take away from the limited strength used to power his shield, so he could not risk proceeding sideways for fear that the fire would engulf him as soon as the shield's force was reduced even by a tiny fraction. The human gasped and groaned on an irregular basis and the wall of flame threatened to crush him at any second while he could feel the shield's strength decreasing.

The immobile stance between both fighters lasted several more seconds, with Kahn standing with his arms pointed down and towards the human and Kazuya only trying to cope with the ever-increasing pain from the inferno. The sight was only finally interrupted when the two adversaries heard someone using the elevator towards where they stood. Sonya appeared standing on the elevator shaft, pistol in hand, as she came face to face with the emperor who turned his masked face away from his target to see her entrance from his left side. Without saying a word, the female kombatant stepped off the elevator and single-handedly aimed the firearm towards the emperor's head. As the elevator climbed back down towards the first floor, Sonya straightened her right arm in front of her face before pulling the trigger three times. Two bullets ricocheted off the emperor's mask and a third bounced off the side of his left shoulder as the female kombatant sighed in disappointment.

"You?", Shao Kahn asked, unhurt, though surprised to see Sonya still alive.

He then turned his attention back to the task at hand, which was maintaining the steady green flames that shot out of his palms to attack Kazuya. The emperor was not sure how the woman hadn't bled to death, but guessed that the male fighter who was slowly being overcome by his power most likely had a hand in it. He reasoned that, whether a sorcerer or not, the male earth warrior would succumb to the fire in no time at all, and then the warrioress would be easy prey.

Determined not to see her latest partner die, Sonya gripped the handle of the pistol in her right palm as she rushed at the emperor. She did not know what harm she might have afflicted while the bullets were ineffective against his bare skin, but the idea of just standing there while Kazuya gradually burned was not an option. She was screaming at the top of her lungs as she neared Kahn, intent on pistol-whipping him to the best of her abilities. Unfortunately for both her and Kazuya, her best effort proved to be mostly futile because she landed a solid blow on the emperor's outstretched left elbow with the pistol and Kahn's arm did not even budge as a result. Instead, Kahn withdrew his right arm towards him while still maintaining his left arm stretched in front of his chest to continue the sorcery. With his free right hand, he easily gripped her bloodied face and tossed her backwards without much effort. Sonya retained her grip on the weapon despite the fact that she flew about ten steps back before landing hard on the floor surface. She heard something crack in her lower back when she finally landed on it.

Struggling before she was able to lift her upper body off the floor, Sonya only saw Kazuya's protective arms fighting a losing battle as the shield they kept in place began to crumble ahead of him. The young Mishima's screams seemed to be getting louder as the heat from the green fire constantly surrounded him. From a fair distance away from him, Kahn remained standing still and looking down at his human opponent, clearly enjoying the defeat of the first person who had actually been able to trade blows with him, though only for a short time.

"He can't take him", she whispered to herself, "He needs help... He needs...".

Sonya stopped in mid-thought. She finally realized the meaning of the latest developments which she had witnessed. She remembered that Kazuya had been able to heal her when she was facing a certain death, and he was now preserving his own life with the use of an enchanted shield. The kombatant knew that both acts required sorcery, but it was Kazuya himself who had stated that the inhabitants in this realm were not capable of necromancy.

"We can't do it", Sonya thought out loud as she watched the difficult scene ahead, "But those who come from other universes can, can't they? Someone who could do magic in his home realm takes his talent with him, even if he comes to a place like this. You just didn't know it until you became desperate".

Sonya's face calmed when she understood that Shao Kahn needed to be defeated, and if the chance was missed now, humanity as a species might have been lost. But to destroy Kahn, the kombatant realized, Kazuya needed assistance, the type of assistance he had forcibly taken from others in his own universe before coming to this earth. With a soul to increase his strength, Kazuya at least had a chance in this confrontation. Sonya also remembered well that he had previously told her that taking the soul of someone who was alive was extremely difficult, unlike taking the soul of someone who had just died. The young Mishima needed souls or he was going to die sooner rather than later, and with him most likely died any possibility of destroying Kahn.

But what could be more a powerful sorcerous fuel than a soul of pure and noble intent? Kazuya had never told her, so Sonya had to guess, and do it quickly. Hoping she was correct in her assumptions, Sonya made her decision rather quickly as she remained seated on the floor and set her eyes on her hurt partner.

"Hey superhero!", she called out.

Kazuya turned his distraught face towards her despite his present condition at the same time that the emperor did also. The young Mishima was about to yell that she leave him and save herself, but he never got the chance.

"Make good use of it", Sonya added, confident that he could hear her despite her lowered voice.

Kazuya saw her next action, but his eyes did not immediately comprehend what she was trying to do. Sonya had gripped the handle of the Glock pistol so tight that her right knuckles turned white. Bending her right elbow, she turned the weapon until it was pointed towards her. With both fighters watching, she pressed the muzzle of the firearm against her upper left chest, about where the heart was located, before she pulled the trigger once.

Her upper body violently shook once following the suppressed sound of the weapon discharging. The floor behind her was stained with several drops of blood before her weapon slipped out of her fingers and her upper body dropped back. She was dead about the same time that she ended up lying flat on her back and the handgun rested on the floor next to her stomach.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!", Kazuya heard himself screaming.

He didn't even realize it when he switched control of his magical barrier to just his left arm while he extended his right arm towards Sonya's corpse. He was going by instinct alone when he concentrated his energy in the direction where his partner was lying dead. One part of the young Mishima pulled her soul out of her body even while another part of him was grieving over her loss. Without fully conceiving his actions, he had called up his necromantic powers within an instant. Kazuya pulled Sonya's soul towards him after the soul emerged from her corpse. The kombatant's soul appeared to be a cloudy, white and shapeless form as it left her body and was yanked in Kazuya's direction as it screamed. The young Mishima felt himself becoming more tense as her soul finally reached his face and then entered his own body through both open eyes. The young Mishima then closed his eyes before opening them again, thus having stolen her soul and having claimed it as his own.

Kazuya's eyes reddened as he dropped the enchanted shield which had preserved his life against Kahn's green flames up until now. The human no longer needed it because he no longer felt any pain as he bent his legs and then swiftly jumped up on his feet to a standing position, energized more than he ever thought would be possible, thanks to the use of a soul that had been freely offered to him. Shao Kahn felt a sudden shock overcoming him, his inferno which should've been enough to vaporize an ordinary person within an instant was hitting the young Mishima's bare skin without any effect. Wearing a cold, sadistic grin on his face, one that made even the emperor feel nervous momentarily, Kazuya stood up to his full height as his body was constantly bombarded by Kahn's now-useless inferno.

Kazuya screamed as he lifted his arms towards the ceiling and faced the sky. It was a yell loud enough to reverberate through the entire lair, and one which exclaimed a power-hungry obsession. He had felt the inhuman strength which is derived from stealing souls before, so the powersurge was not a surprise for him. The difference between his current intensity and the one he had experienced in his own universe after making a deal with the Shao Kahn was that before, the power increase had been slow and steady. Kazuya had first stolen the souls of a corrupt organized crime family. The souls of all those members had been relatively weak, so he had been given the time to adjust to his new strength and confidence before acquiring future souls with his sorcery. In contrast, gaining Sonya's soul had brought him in contact with a much stronger vigor because the lady kombatant's soul had been much purer, approximately as faultless as Michelle Chang's. When acquired first, such a noble soul provided power that he was not able to cope with right away, unlike a corrupt soul from whom the power increase would have been slow and gradual. Also, the fact that Sonya had relinquished her soul to him from her own free will by taking her life made her level of purity higher than any previous souls he had stolen. This explained the almost-maniacal glance the human threw towards Shao Kahn as both adversaries stood staring at each other, even while the emperor continued his projectile of green fire against the human's torso. Growing impatient with his larger opponent, Kazuya placed his own wrists together, straightened his arms and aimed both his palms into the source of the inferno as he was panting heavily through the mouth. As Kahn's fire struck him in the hands first, the human saw the emperor's red eyes behind that one's mask for the first time.

"DIE, KAHN!", Kazuya thundered, his raving red eyes locked with the emperor's red ones.

A bright red blaze shot out of the human's palms as it came into contact with Kahn's green flame. The emperor's inferno proved to be the weaker of the two within an instant as Kahn saw his own fire vaporizing into nothingness just before Kazuya's red tongue of fire struck him in the chest. The Shao Kahn was hurled backwards before being pinned against the wall behind him. Kahn screamed as he violently thrashed his arms in every direction, desperately trying but failing to stop the flow of red fire against him. His scream was heard even louder than Kazuya's, except his was a cry of pain while the human's had been a cry of overwhelming power.

Kazuya grinned as he enjoyed the sight of his enemy being literally burned alive as he began advancing towards Kahn's position, his straight arms always delivering the devastating blaze against the larger antagonist. He was about ten steps away from Kahn and still approaching when the walls both around and behind the emperor began to melt from having come into contact with the heat from the red inferno. Kahn's skin turned brittle while melting pieces of the wall from behind him came to rest on his padded shoulders and bare back.

"FOOL!", barked Kahn, his voice echoing the overwhelming pain he felt, "YOU WILL NOT SAVE YOUR REALM! YOUR REALM IS DOOMED NO MATTER WHAT! MY LIVING WEAPONS ARE PROGRAMMED TO FIND MY COORDINATES AND TO THEN ANNIHILATE THE REALM IF I AM NOT ABLE TO CONQUER IT!".

The emperor's statement was followed with another excruciating scream. Closing the distance between himself and his target, with the emperor feeling a more painful burn with every step that the human came closer, Kazuya finally separated his own wrists and stopped the outpouring red inferno once he was standing in front of the emperor. Kahn didn't get a chance to rest, however, because the raging human gripped the larger emperor by the throat with his left hand, thus keeping Kahn standing. Turning his right hand into a fist, Kazuya angrily yelled as he sent that fist into Kahn's steel mask. The emperor's mask shattered from the impact as Kazuya's fist tore past it and smashed into the Shao Kahn's face next. With the fractured pieces of the mask falling on the ground around his feet, Shao Kahn dropped to his knees without a sound in front of the smaller human and then collapsed on his stomach. Not sensing any further movement from the emperor, Kazuya staggered several steps backwards while still panting before an intense beam of light shot out of Kahn's body. The human's heart was pounding with such strength in his chest that he could hear it, but he didn't think about it much as he watched an endless stream of souls exiting the Shao Kahn and climbing towards the sky. The young Mishima dropped to his knees as he kept staring intently into the bright light above, his panting did not calm as he found himself yearning for the souls which seemed to be just beyond his reach. He quietly reached up towards the light with his right arm but was unable to draw the exiting souls in towards his hand. Having failed, Kazuya dropped down on his hands and knees, the energy used to destroy the Shao Kahn having exhausted him.

"Need more souls...", he whispered to himself, his red eyes extending in a rage, remembering his experiences in Africa with perfect clarity, "Have to save the world... Have to punish the guilty!".

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Baraka heard the chaos all around him before noticing anything that happened. The sunny sky over his own head thundered as Mileena whimpered near him. She and the larger nomad stared up into the sky as a painful howl was heard from its direction above. It took them both an instant to recognize the source of the scream. Although they could hardly believe it, Baraka and Mileena realized that the howl belonged to their emperor as he was dying. Mileena shook her head in disbelief as she looked at the nomad.

"This cannot be!", she exclaimed, her eyes wide with fear, "Those earth natives could not have defeated our Shao Kahn!".

The realm began losing its present environmental conditions. The temperature dropped at least forty degrees within moments as a cold chill overtook all its inhabitants. Thick clouds overtook the sky which had been sunny only an instant ago since it had been the Shao Kahn's unholy power which had kept his realm in its former condition. No one else in the realm possessed enough power to maintain an entire realm, not even Shang Tsung, so with the emperor's power broken, the realm was forced to return to its previous state.

Before Baraka was able to answer Mileena in an effort to calm her down, a countless number of portals spontaneously appeared everywhere around them. Without a warning, several bladed mutants much like Baraka were hurled from each portal before they crashed on the ground of Kahn's realm. Most of the mutants were physically fine, although a few were dead. After the portals spat out at least a score of mutants each, they all vanished as suddenly as they had appeared.

"It is so", Baraka had to admit to her amid the confused mutants who began to stand back up around them, "The emperor is dead. That is why the portals he generated to carry his armies into earth are no longer working".

Many of the mutants appeared as surprised as him, as they realized they were no longer in the earth realm. They stood up with their bloodied blades, wondering how they were pulled out of the earth realm in the middle of their invasion, and then surveyed the cadavers of their fellow mutants which were pulled back also.

"BARAKA! MILEENA!", Reptile's voice carried with it an air of urgency.

Both warriors turned to see the green ninja calling for them from thirty yards away as he seemed in a hurry.

"Shang Tsung gave the order", the green ninja informed them, "The living weapons are ready to go to the earth realm".

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The power-hungry demon inside of Kazuya grew stronger, increasing with it his obsession with cleansing the entire world of all evil, no matter what the cost to himself or others. The hatred within ensued him to passionately press his teeth together as he began to plan a strategy in his mind, one which he felt was delayed for too long as a result of him being trapped in the Black Abyss which came because of his own fear and foolishness. Now that he was back in earth, the young demonic Mishima vowed to never return to the previous, useless state of mind he was in when he had no souls increasing his personal power.

"So much time wasted!", Kazuya barked to no one in particular, dragging himself back to a standing position.

"I have much to do", he calmed down enough to resume talking without raising his voice as his red eyes concentrated on the Kahn's corpse ahead of him.

It was true that the emperor had met his end without having done Kazuya the service of destroying half the population of the earth realm that was causing it harm, but even such an obstacle was one which could have been overcome. With his new power, the human knew that he could've started off on his journey to protect the innocent element, something that he had aimed back in his own universe. He knew he possessed the ability to take lives on a massive scale, even if it would have taken one person a tremendous amount of time to try to cover the entire planet. It had been Kazuya's belief that the Kahn himself needed more than a year to attempt to complete his mission before the young Mishima had planned to challenge the emperor to single combat. Knowing that, the human knew that it would've most likely taken him much longer, but he was ready, he was willing to wait as long as needed to accomplish what he wanted.

The only noise the human could still hear at the moment was his own loud breathing as he sneered at the Shao Kahn's corpse before turning away to leave the lair. He wore a wide and delighted grin on his face, glad that his deadliest opponent for control of the earth realm was now dead. The grin then faded suddenly when the young Mishima saw another sight as he was heading towards the elevator shaft. Sonya was lying on her back and in a pool of her own blood several steps away from him, her wide-open eyes staring out towards the ceiling as her head was slightly resting on her left shoulder. Kazuya's red eyes met her vacant ones by chance for only a fraction of a second, but it was long enough to make him stop in his tracks before reaching the elevator. There was something captivating about the silent way her face seemed to be asking him to restrain himself. He had seen that stare in his mind a countless number of times after his death, it was the glance of his many victims which had torn at his conscience, and which now disturbed the human side of the young Mishima. Despite his obsession with cleansing the evil from this realm, Kazuya also remembered how he cried after the devil had been torn from him while he stood at the edge of the Black Abyss.

"STOP GIVING IN TO THE WEAKNESS!", he yelled at himself, staring at the ceiling and tearing at his own hair, "YOU HAVE A MISSION IN LIFE!".

He involuntarily began crying through his red eyes, unsure about how to continue, his human side encouraging one path while his demon side encouraged the exact opposite. Kazuya dropped down to a seated position on the floor as he placed his face in his palms and began sobbing. He continued in that fashion for at least five minutes, remembering the crimes committed by his demonized self in his former universe. He soon found himself going against almost all instinct in his mind as he withdrew his hands away from his face and stood up while turning in the direction of his partner's corpse. Without bothering to wipe the tears out of his eyes, the young Mishima pointed his right arm down towards where Sonya lay.

A cloud emerged from his right fingertips as it took the shape of a small, dense fog in front of him. It was only a few moments afterwards that Kazuya was able to withdraw his arm and the formless cloud ahead of him took on the shape of his dead partner as she was facing him. Sonya's appearance crystallized a few feet away from the young Mishima, and, although the kombatant still wore the clothes she had on at the time of her death, she was not a solid form. The young Mishima's eyes turned from red to their usual black color as he felt his newly-found power draining away. Despite the loss of his supernatural strength, Kazuya could still concentrate enough on what occurred in front of him to realize that he easily saw Sonya'sdead body through her own soul. Her transparent apparition smiled at him as all her injuries were gone, from the cut on her left cheek to the stab wounds on her stomach and forearms.

"I _was_ hoping you'd let me go afterwards", her soul appeared glad and thankful.

"I cannot believe what you just did", he replied, raising his right arm as his palm faced her.

She raised her own left arm to meet him, but her transparent left hand passed through his right hand without being able to touch it.

"Huh", Sonya kept smiling as they both withdrew their arms, "Takes a lot of concentration, I guess".

It wasn't long before she turned her face towards where Shao Kahn lay on the floor.

"Is he dead?", she asked Kazuya, her face having turned serious for an instant.

"Yes", he made her happy, "Thanks to you".

"No", her smile returned as she looked back at him, "Thanks to _us_".

"Of course", Kazuya began to feel fatigue after the tremendous amount of energy he had used against the emperor and the strain that his formerly-superhuman form had taken from the emperor's green inferno.

"Do me one last favor?", Sonya asked as she felt she could not stay for much longer.

"Anything", he calmly replied.

"Look out for my friends", she requested, "Liu, Johnny and Kitana, I mean. They should still be here".

"I will do my best, I promise", he pledged.

The peaceful grin on Sonya's face widened even more. She placed both her hands on either side of his shoulders, surprising her partner by actually being able to touch him this time. The lady kombatant reached forth and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks, superhero", she then stepped back and away from him.

Both warriors maintained eye contact in the few seconds it took Sonya's soul to turn into a cloud. Kazuya watched her soul rise towards the ceiling until it reached the top of the lair and passed through it on the way to the sky beyond. It was only after her soul was gone that the young Mishima's attention was diverted to a spot ahead of him rather than where the ceiling ended. He saw a large, circular portal quickly expanding until it was about ten yards in diameter. Before the curious human was able to take his first step towards the new gateway, he saw two figured emerging from it. One was a large mutant with a three-foot blade sticking out of each of his wrists and the other was a smaller masked woman who was dressed in a tight purple outfit.

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Baraka and Mileena walked out of the portal not knowing what to expect on the other side. The 7-foot tall nomad was sickened to see Shao Kahn's body lying lifelessly several steps ahead of him, only yards away from a human mortal who was the only alive person he viewed. The mutant's purple-dressed partner gasped as she almost dropped the sai she held in each hand, but then firmed her grip on the weapons to retain them. She only took a few steps forward, getting closer to the corpse of the human female as she examined the area ahead of her. Both nonhuman warriors knew that the only way the living weapons could've been activated towards the earth realm would've been either if their emperor had ordered them sent there after the realm had successfully repelled his attack. Since Shao Kahn was known to have been on earth at the present time, he would've only called upon the living weapons at the time of his death. Baraka and Mileena should've known what to expect, but they still found themselves unprepared for the sight of their emperor lying dead on the ground in front of a human who appeared to be the victor in the fight against Kahn.

Gathering their concentration, both invaders turned into a fighting stance as they faced their emperor's vanquisher. Baraka lifted both arms until his blades pointed at Kazuya and Mileena rested the sais against her forearms, ready to attack. It didn't take long for the young Mishima to turn into a fighting stance of his own, although even Kazuya had doubts about his chances against two energetic opponents while he himself was physically weary. Still though, the human knew that running towards the elevator shaft would've only left him vulnerable to a swift attack from behind, one which would have proven to be fatal. As the two invaders locked eyes with the native, more figures emerged from the portal. Kazuya's attention was again distracted away from the two original invaders and towards the portal, this time to witness two cyborgs coming forth from inside of it, one was red and the other yellow.

#Earth realm, identified#, Sektor spoke to his metallic partner only as he stood straight, ignoring the human and the mutants on the scene.

#Acknowledged#, was Cyrax's only reply as he walked a dozen steps away and stood straight also, distancing himself from the first living weapon.

Both cyborgs simultaneously bent their left elbow and leveled their left forearm in a horizontal position before pressing buttons on them with their right hand.

#Auto-destruct initiated#, Sektor went on in his robotic voice.

#Annihilation of earth realm imminent#, Cyrax added.

The young Mishima shifted his body slightly. He thought to himself that his odds of winning had gone from bad to worse with the arrival of two new warriors, and these were invaders the kind of which he had never faced before. He didn't even know if the metallic warriors had a vulnerable spot. Before he could devise a plan of attack, though, he spotted even more movement from behind the cyborgs. Shang Tsung and a human-masked Reptile stepped out of the portal behind the living weapons, forcing a discouraged sigh out of Kazuya as he finally realized he was outnumbered six to one. It was only then that the portal behind the six invaders vanished.

Even though the new human and the green ninja did not act in an aggressive manner, Kazuya did not have to think long to realize that the arrival of the cyborgs was not good news for earth. As both Cyrax and Sektor waited the few seconds needed before their auto-destruct sequence was completed, the human sprang forth. Ignoring both mutants, Kazuya glided forward in a flying kick aimed at the left side of the cyborg who was closer to him, which happened to be Cyrax. The living weapon spotted the human flying towards him and suspended the auto-destruct sequence temporarily as he turned in Kazuya's direction. Cyrax's chest opened a split second before an electric green net shot out of it, intercepting Kazuya in midair and violently throwing the human backwards as he screamed. Kazuya flew backwards until his back slammed into the wall next to the elevator shaft with such force that it bruised several of his ribs. The net glued his entire body against the wall, he found that he couldn't even move his arms or legs despite his best efforts. He kept up his vain struggle as he felt his strength draining and, through the net, saw Baraka approaching him.

"Poor human", the nomad taunted, showing off his razor-sharp teeth, "This is what a trapped fly feels like as it watches a spider approaching".

Behind the male mutant, Mileena grinned with joy as Reptile stood at attention, quietly surveying the area around him to secure Shang Tsung's safety, as was his job. Shang Tsung, on the other hand, found out that he did not need to travel far into the earth realm to locate what he had been looking for. A fairly short distance away from the emperor's body and from the trapped human, the sorcerer spotted Sonya's corpse with her eyes which were still open and staring out into nothingness. He realized right away that she was dead and a feeling of sadness overwhelmed him as he gave a deep sigh. His sole reason for being interested in the earth realm ever since losing it in the tenth tournament to Liu now lay dead several steps away from him. Realizing he had no more interest in this realm, Shang Tsung tightened his mouth and locked eyes with his bodyguard, nonverbally indicating to Reptile that it was their time to leave.

"Leave the human", the sorcerer ordered while turning around as Baraka was within reach of where Kazuya was trapped, "He will be dead soon enough along with everyone else".

With that, Shang Tsung raised his right arm and a wave of energy emerged from his right hand. The energy came to rest in midair just a few feet in front of him and soon began expanding into a second portal, one which would've have taken them back home.

"Are you crazy?", the nomad shot back, "A kill this tempting?".

"I said leave him!", the sorcerer raised his voice as he partially turned his head towards Baraka before returning to the task ahead.

Just then, the net holding Kazuya against the wall disintegrated and the young Mishima fell on the floor debilitated from his efforts against the Shao Kahn as well as the blow he received against the wall from Cyrax's net. He dropped on his hands and knees, desperately trying to get back up but feeling as if his arms and legs had abandoned him. It was then that Baraka delivered a sharp kick into his face, sending him turning over before he twisted horizontally and crashed flat on his back. Ignoring the sorcerer's orders, Baraka lifted his right arm, ready to deliver the right blade downward into the human's chest. Despite the encouraging grins being heard from Mileena, the nomad was interrupted because he heard an unfamiliar noise from nearby. Neither he, nor Mileena, nor Shang Tsung, nor Reptile realized that the noise occurred because someone was using the elevator to get to the second floor. The elevator shaft reached their floor and the six invaders were forced to acknowledge the presence of the second earth native on the scene, although the sorcerer was the only one who recognized him from experience.

A dazed Johnny Cage stepped off the elevator shaft as he combed the entire area around him. The actor saw the emperor's dead body, and he also saw Sonya's afterwards. His face tightened in anger as he proceeded towards Baraka and Kazuya first. Although he couldn't personally identify the human who was about to be executed by the nomad, he had remembered the mention of Kazuya's name by Rayden when they were back in the Outworld. The kombatant reasoned that any enemy of the nomads would have to be a friend of his. Both Baraka and Mileena stared at him for an instant without moving as Reptile shifted his direction towards the actor to be ready in case that one tried to harm the sorcerer. Shang Tsung, on the other hand, paid no more attention to him and just returned to working on the portal. He had a long history with the actor, there was no doubt about that. The actor, after all, had been the one who had killed Goro during the tenth tournament and had made it possible for Liu to challenge him. Despite that, the sorcerer no longer cared about any revenge scenario he might've otherwise wanted to carry out against the kombatant now that the human in which he was most interested was dead.

"You dimwits just can't stay in one realm, can you?", an emotionally exhausted actor barked at the large nomad.

"Ooh, the native is getting restless", Mileena teased, raising her forearms in front of her and shaking the sais as if she was afraid of the lone human who had just used the elevator.

She stepped backwards in mock fear, coming closer to the edge of the second floor until she was just three steps away from it.

Johnny had enough. His loathing of all kinds of invaders had reached its peak as he remembered all the losses he had been forced to endure over time because of them. First it had been Scott, then Kitana, then Smoke, and now finally Sonya. And to embitter the whole situation, the one female in purple was mocking him while the male nomad was about to strike another fellow human being dead. Trying his best to maintain enough concentration to be useful, Johnny dashed ahead with a shadow kick, sliding on his left foot as his right leg was held high in front of him. The strike was not a good one, as his senses were still muddled after having been knocked unconscious, and he ended up losing his balance and staggering to the side right after the bottom of his right foot met Baraka's solar plexus. As he faltered to his right, the large nomad was forced one step back despite the flawed kick which he had delivered, thus giving the weakened Kazuya the crucial time needed to roll away from the mutant's reach. With the young Mishima climbing back on his hands and knees in an effort to stand, Baraka and Johnny faced each other as Mileena approached the humans. In the meantime, Shang Tsung completed the portal ahead of him and looked back over his shoulder for the last time. The final sight he witnessed was the actor and the nomad rushing towards each other as Shao Kahn's victor was still busy climbing to his feet while Mileena closed in on the trio. Cyrax and Sektor remained still, getting ever-closer to their ultimate goal of destroying the realm and every living thing in it in a matter of moments.

"I hope you are ready to be sliced open, human", Baraka sneered towards the actor, "You do know that you have no hope of emerging victorious. We are not like you, after all. We do not have weaknesses, we are the peak of the evolution process, unlike you!".

"Yeah, right", the actor angrily shot back, "I think you'll find that fighting humans is my ex-wife, which is to say, a bitch".

Having seen enough, Shang Tsung turned to Reptile and motioned towards the portal with his head. They both left the others behind as they walked into the portal, reasoning that it was up to Baraka and Mileena to decide when they wanted to follow in their own turn before the realm they stood in turned to dust.

"FORGET HIM!", Kazuya warned the actor, "THOSE MACHINES ARE ABOUT TO DESTROY THE PLANET!".

Johnny heard the prediction as he had reached the nomad and delivered a solid uppercut into that one's chin. Having found enough strength to stand, Kazuya then rushed forward and tackled Baraka in the stomach, knocking the nomad down on his back and freeing the stronger actor to concentrate on the cyborgs. Kazuya pinned Baraka's back against the floor by pressing his left palm on the nomad's chest and then lifted his own upper body up before a barrage of right punches from the human crashed into the mutant's face. The continuous flow of punches kept dislocating teeth in the nomad's mouth as the back of his head kept slamming into the floor behind him because of the impacts. Despite his superior size, Baraka found that he was unable to push the smaller human off because of the constant surges of pain that one delivered into his face. Kazuya's brutal punches only ceased when Mileena reached him and kicked the human in the head. The young Mishima was hurled backwards and off the larger mutant as his back met the floor a few feet next to the nomad. Mileena bolted past Baraka with her sai ready to deliver a fatal strike into the aggressive human's head. Seeing the female in purple as she raised the sai in her right hand, Kazuya quickly rose on his left crouched leg before his right leg shot up towards her. The bottom of his right foot met her stomach and Mileena gave a yell as she dropped both sais and flew through the air. She roughly landed on her back and grudgingly stood up about three steps away from the edge of the second floor, her sights still set on the human. As Kazuya stood up also, facing her and ready for her next attack, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his skull as Baraka delivered a headbutt from behind him. Seeing stars, the human involuntarily staggered forward for several steps before crashing on his stomach just a few feet away from the edge of the second floor.

Leaving the young Mishima alone with the giant mutant for now, Johnny executed a second shadow kick, this time aimed at the red cyborg. Sektor simply stood his ground as he viewed Johnny sliding towards him. The actor had thought that the cyborg would've tried to counter with a flying kick, or at least tried to dodge out of the way, but Sektor did neither, preferring to just face his attacker head-on. The human was only confused about the cyborg's reaction for a short while because he then noticed the reason why the living weapon acted in such a way. Before Johnny had reached him, Sektor's chest opened to reveal a foot-long missile which shot straight out of it. The kombatant's eyes bulged open in shock as his shadow kick was interrupted and he suddenly dropped flat on his stomach fast enough to see the missile flying over him before it struck the far wall. Eyeing the human who now climbed back up to his feet, a calm Sektor targeted the kombatant with a second, heat-seeking missile. The cyborg reasoned that this way, the human would not have been able to dodge the projectile no matter how fast and agile he happened to be since the missile would always return towards him. With the actor rising on his feet, the red cyborg fired again.

Johnny ducked his upper body as the second missile shot over him, missing his back by merely inches. After traveling about twenty yards through the open air, though, Sektor's projectile turned around and headed back towards the actor. The kombatant gave a short yell as he realized the second projectile was smarter than the first. Feeling desperate, Johnny dashed towards the second, yellow cyborg as the missile set its sight on his upper back. Standing his ground, Cyrax saw the human running towards him with the missile in hot pursuit. The cyborg's instant calculations told him that the human was doomed and would not reach him before being struck by the projectile, so Cyrax did not worry. About ten yards away from the yellow cyborg, though, Johnny reacted by an instinct which he hoped would not let him down. Guessing that he was about to get hit by the missile, the actor performed an instantaneous full leg split on the second floor, thus lowering his upper body by about two and a half feet. The missile behind him flew over his head and kept traveling straight. It was about to turn around again when it struck Cyrax in the chest and the yellow cyborg exploded in a countless number of pieces.

Cyrax's left forearm hit Johnny in the forehead as the actor was still in the leg split, so the kombatant was pushed backwards and crashed on the floor before he was able to stand back up. Turning on his stomach, the kombatant placed his fists against the floor in an effort to stand back up when he was only a few feet away from the edge of the second floor. He saw Baraka about to deliver a left blade down towards Kazuya's battered body from twenty steps away as the two were near the edge of the second floor also. Mileena, who stood halfway between him and the nomad, was now staring at Cyrax's remains with her mouth clearly open even from behind the purple mask. The actor had to think of a way to save Kazuya's life, and he knew he'd never be able to reach the mutant in time before the death blow was delivered. So Johnny frantically grabbed the hot forearm which had struck him in the head moments earlier with his right hand and set his sights on his target.

"No weaknesses?", he whispered to himself as he tossed the heavy forearm towards Mileena with as much strength as his right arm could afford.

The metal forearm flew towards the female invader and violently struck her in the head. Mileena screamed out in pain as she clutched her face, not realizing that she had staggered closer to the edge as she did so. She took one step too many and soon found herself trying to plant her left foot in an area past the solid floor. She tried to pull her left leg back when she realized that she had stepped too far out, but it was too late. Mileena yelled out as she felt herself falling over the edge and towards the waiting lava pool below. Reacting by instinct, she made one last attempt to hold on to the floor with her left hand as she was falling past it. Her left fingers dug into the edge of the floor and kept her suspended in the air, just one slip away from a burning death below.

"Noooooooooo!", Baraka yelled out as he saw her falling.

The nomad left Kazuya without delivering the fatal blow and rushed towards the spot where Mileena had fallen. He gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw her hanging on for her life, so he dropped down to a crouching position just near the edge of the second floor and gripped her left wrist with his right hand. Mileena also reached up and grabbed his right wrist with her right hand also, thus securing a better hold on her rescuer. As Baraka was about to pull her up, though, he heard a click from several feet away and to the left. The nomad looked up towards his left to see Johnny standing near the edge of the second floor also, about five steps away from him. The actor's somber face met his eyes first and then Mileena's as she too had looked in his direction when Baraka did not pull her up immediately. Straitening his right arm and then raising it, Johnny pointed Sonya's 9mm pistol directly in between Baraka's eyes. The actor hoped the weapon was not out of ammunition yet since he felt weak after the latest stress and was no longer sure if he could single-handedly face two opponents at the present time. At the same time, the nomad's eyelids widened as he ended up staring into the muzzle of the firearm while he was holding Mileena over the edge of the second floor.

"No weaknesses indeed", the actor told him, his voice a mix of an unusual calmness and anger, "Did you think I didn't see the way you looked at her?".

Johnny pulled the trigger once. Baraka opened his mouth to protest, but never got the chance to say anything because a bullet tore through his forehead. Pieces of his brain were blown on the floor behind him and to his right in a bloody mess. The nomad dropped dead on his right side without a sound as his right grip loosened around Mileena's hand and wrist. She, at the same time, gave out a long yell as she found herself falling the two hundred yards from the edge of the second floor until her body dropped into the red pool. Her yells suddenly quieted as she was instantly submerged into the lava, leaving behind only a thin puff of smoke to indicate where she had touched the pool.

Sighing, Johnny released his grip on the handgun and the weapon slipped out of his hand before hitting the floor. His right hand shook involuntarily for several moments because he had never fired a gun before. The actor bent his right arm and brought his right wrist in front of his torso so he could grip it with his left hand before the shaking stopped. As the kombatant then looked past Baraka's corpse towards Kazuya, he saw his fellow human rising up on his hands and knees. The kombatant was about to walk towards the young Mishima to help him up when Kazuya pointed at him with a left index finger.

"Behind you!", Kazuya warned.

Johnny did not even get a chance to turn around. The only thing he felt was a solid punch into the back of his head as Sektor had delivered a jab from behind him. The actor's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped unconscious on his right side, only two steps away from the edge of the second floor. Having neutralized the threat to its mission, the red cyborg walked back to where it had previously stood. Still on his hands and knees, Kazuya could only watch as Sektor stood in place and seemed to be pulling its forearms inwards.

#Auto-destruct sequence in eight... seven... six... five... four#, the cyborg declared, about to complete its mission in a matter of seconds.

From over twenty yards away, Kazuya kept his eyes fixed on Sektor as he tried to stand back up. After everything he had witnessed so far, he could not allow the earth to be destroyed now. He tried to push himself back into a standing position in one last attempt to rush towards the red cyborg in order to desperately push it off the second floor and into the lava pool below, even if that meant going over the edge with it. As the young Mishima was trying to stand, though, he found that his body had just endured too much physical damage. His arms collapsed and he found himself crashing back on the floor on his stomach. He cursed himself for not being strong enough to stand, although he knew he didn't have long to be disappointed in himself.

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In another place in the universe, Rayden had been watching the whole scene as he felt even his divine abilities being tested because he was forced to remain away from the earth fighters who fought for the continued existence of the realm. The protector of the realm of earth was finally ushered to Zeus' throne room as he had continuously demanded an audience. The king of the gods remained seated as he eyed the anxious thunder god who walked inside faster than his escorts.

"Shao Kahn is dead", Rayden told Zeus what that one already knew, "You have no more reason to keep me here now that Kahn is no longer a threat".

"Is that so?", Zeus replied in a prudish fashion.

"Yes!", Rayden exclaimed, not understanding why the king of the gods answered him in such a way, "I demand to be allowed back to earth to help its natives against Kahn's remaining warriors!".

"Your effrontery amazes me, I will allow you that much", Zeus angrily stood up from his throne, "You demand from me after you have gone against my orders to stay away from that realm?".

The thunder god pressed his teeth together, his hopes of not being detected had been overly optimistic.

"And now you expect me to reward your disobedience?", the king of gods added, approaching the deity.

"Your business is with _me_", Rayden finally spoke up, "If you wish to punish me, I will understand, but the earth natives should not be punished for my actions".

"Well, it seems to me as if those precious natives of yours would not have reached such a successful end result if you hadn't guided them to Chthon's lair in the first place", Zeus declared, rubbing his chin with his right fingers, "So I think I will let things turn out as they would have if you had obeyed me from the start".

"No!", the deity aggressively closed in on him, "You cannot do this!".

"You forget, puny realm god, I am the king", Zeus gave him a sarcastic smile.

"Well, I am leaving for earth whether I have your approval or not!", Rayden turned his back at the throne.

"How dare you?", Zeus pointed at the deity's back with his right palm.

Rayden turned back to face the king of the gods, quickly walked towards him and delivered a right hook punch into his face. Zeus found himself crashing backwards against the throne in a most inelegant fashion.

"Seize him!", the king of gods angrily spat, looking up at the younger deity.

None of the guards who had escorted Rayden into the throne room budged.

"Did you hear me?", Zeus barked, standing back up.

"I think your rule is near an end, my king", Rayden flatly stated before turning around and walking out of the room.

xxxxxxxxxxx

In Chthon's lair, Sektor had reached the time when it had two more seconds to go before detonation as the portal which was created by Shang Tsung dissipated.

#...three... two...#, the red cyborg was interrupted by a flash of electricity.

Rayden appeared several steps in front of it, approximately between the cyborg and Kazuya. Raising his right arm, the deity pointed his palm towards Sektor before an outburst of electricity shot out of it and struck the living weapon. The cyborg had no idea what was occurring as it was hurled backwards from the impact before its back struck the far wall and it exploded into a countless number of red metallic pieces. Sektor's head flew in a semicircle until it landed past the second floor and fell down towards the lava pool below. The cyborg's head disappeared in the liquid fire only a few feet away from the point where Mileena had met her death

Having neutralized the last threat to earth, the thunder god turned to examine the people that he knew were still alive, mainly Johnny Cage and Kazuya Mishima, as he knew that Sonya Blade was already dead. Keeping in mind that Liu Kang was the only person still alive on the first floor, he made a note to check the monk also as soon as he could. He first knelt next to the unconscious actor and was about to try to reawaken him when he heard an unfamiliar noise from below. Looking down past the edge of the second floor, the thunder god saw the lava pool quivering even though it had been calm before. It was only an instant afterwards that the lava pool exploded, sending drops of burning liquid upwards towards the second floor, although the explosion spared the first floor. Pulling his upper body inward from the edge, Rayden covered the actor's upper body with his arms, although he was glad to find that his reaction was unnecessary since the lava did not reach their position. Turning his attention back downwards, though, the deity's eyes widened when he realized that the lair was about to be overflown with the lava in the pool. The liquid fire was starting to spread towards the first floor after having received the eruption which had followed the introduction of Sektor's head inside the pool.

Reacting fast, Rayden did not stop to check on the condition of the two humans on the second floor. A lightning net shot out of his left palm before it separated into three parts. One part engulfed the unconscious actor, the second swallowed up Kazuya as the young Mishima still hadn't realized what was occurring and the third net glided towards the first floor under its own power and submerged the oblivious Mortal Kombat champion. The thunder god quickly closed his left hand as he felt the lair sinking into the lava, and he and all three nets vanished out of it. They left Chthon's lair as it slowly immersed into the liquid lava, taking along with it the bodies it carried and making itself the final resting place for all those dead warriors.

Johnny Cage was the last to wake up and the first sight the actor saw was Liu offering him a hand, so the actor exhaled in a tired fashion as he gripped the monk's palm and was pulled up to his feet. He found himself standing in the middle of a street on earth, back in the city where he lived for quiet a while before the invasion had started.

"Glad to see someone else is still alive", the actor told his fellow kombatant.

"Yes, I would've hated to be the lone survivor", Liu replied, still remembering Kitana's and Smoke's deaths.

"Sonya's gone too", Johnny informed him.

"I know", the monk pointed partly behind him, "Kazuya told me".

The actor looked past the monk, expecting to see the young Mishima there. Surprised, Johnny saw only destroyed buildings but not anyone else, even the thunder god was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?", the kombatant asked out loud.

"He couldn't stay", the monk let him know, "He was going out of his mind since he had no place in this world, or so he thought. Rayden promised to take him someplace where he'd feel right at home".

"Which is where?", Johnny asked next.

"A place faaar away", Liu sounded surprised, "But Rayden promised he'd be back soon. We get to fix this realm of ours now that Kahn's armies are gone for good".

"Great", the actor sighed just before he heard noise from behind him.

Both kombatants turned around and were pleasantly surprised to see an army platoon heading down the street towards them. The first vehicle in the squadron was an armored humvee as it slowed down before coming to a complete halt. Major Jackson Briggs opened the front passenger side door and stepped out of the vehicle with an M-16 rifle in his left grip as a 9mm pistol remained holstered to his waistline.

"Well, well", Jax gave a small grin, "Look who it is".

"Nice to see you too, muscle-man", Johnny delivered a relaxed and mock military salute.

"I take it you guys know that the last of the freaks are gone?", the major asked.

"Yep", the actor went on, approaching the string of military armored vehicles, "Has something to do with Kahn being a dead vegetable in some lair, Rayden knows where".

"Get in, dudes", Jax pointed to the soldiers who had emerged from the humvees and tanks behind him, "We'll give a you a scenic ride around the city. Sit next to the dude who has frost coming out of his fingers at will. He's a riot, never short of an icepack if you gotta a headache".

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The first sight Sonya saw in the next realm was the incredibly bright sky, and the surprisingly dark ground. The ride towards this realm had been rocky at best, but she now finally waved good-bye to the skeleton who was dressed in a large and simple piece of cloth.

"Not much of a conversationalist", the kombatant thought out loud as Hades did not look back while his boat sailed through the crystal-clear water.

She shivered involuntarily, although not from cold, as she turned away from the water and headed inland. She felt nervous about what she might find in the realm of the dead, as she had no idea what to expect, so she kept breathing as constantly as she could. The second sight Sonya saw was a large Shokanite, one even bigger than Goro, as the four-armed fighter delivered a massive punch into Motaro's chin. The Centaur dropped to the ground with a painful groan as the Shokanite then sent his right upper fist into the top of the Centaur's head. With Motaro screaming out, the kombatant finally noticed the one individual who was standing a few steps away from the aggressive Shokanite. That individual, having sensed another presence in the realm of the dead, turned his attention away from the scene that he was enjoying to see who was interrupting his fun. Sonya stood still as she wrapped her arms in front of her chest and looked past the beating that the four-armed warrior was submitting the four-legged warrior to. Feeling much more comfortable after seeing a familiar face, she grinned as she saw that the human who was eagerly watching Motaro's beating had been Scott.

"Noooo!", Scott's mouth turned into a wide grimace as he saw her despite the fact that seeing her here meant that she was dead.

The ninja left the thrashing he had been watching and rushed towards Sonya before he wrapped both arms around her. Durak had stopped hammering on Motaro as he saw his student leaving the scene and looked towards him.

"It is good that I do not need your help to handle this Centaur", Durak growled at the human, "I would hateto imagine what would happen if I had problems and my partner left me stranded".

"Oh, don't even worry about that four-legs", Scottgrinned ashe turned towards the Shokanite with his right arm wrapped around the blonde kombatant's shoulders.

"Huh?", the giant Shokanite wondered out loud as Motaro flopped to the ground on hisleft side.

"Durak",the ninjaadded happily, "This is bestest friend anywhere. You're gonna love her".

xxxxxxxxxxx

The young Mishima couldn't believe his eyes when Rayden's electricity vanished.

"I just thought thist wasthe closest to home thatI could bring you", the deity reported, "I still have to apologize tfor having brought you to tthe universe by accident".

Kazuya saw a Peace Corps mission in the middle of Africa. All around him llay evidence that the Shao Kahn's invasion had not spared this section of the continent. People lay dead or injured at several places, but so did many other individuals who were trying to help the wounded. The unexpected withdrawal of the last section of Kahn's armies had made it possible for the Peace Corps mission to resume its goal.

Rayden pointed past Kazuya, nonverbally indicating that he should turn around. Rotating in place, Kazuya first thought he was looking in a mirror, but then realized the person he was looking at was not a reflection at all. He was staring at a skinnier version of himself, the version of himself who was part of the Peace Corps mission in Africa in this universe. It only took the young Mishima an instant before he realized that this version of the mercy mission in Africa had never experienced the massacre that his own mission had the misfortune of encountering. Never having been shot, this version of himself had never gone on a disciplined task to save the world by eventually making a deal with the Shao Kahn. Instead, this version of himself was busy applying pressure against the open wound in the chest of a lacerated man about thirty steps away from where the deity and the foreign Mishima stood.

"You _can_ go talk to him", Rayden whispered from the side as Kazuya's eyes remained set on his thinner self.

"Are you saying I can stay here?", the stronger Kazuya quickly ignored his more slender self and anxiously addressed Rayden.

"Well, yes", Rayden gave a small smile, happy to see the young Mishima excited, "I just... conceived that you may desire to use your obvious powers to assist the Africa mission in this universe".

Kazuya smiled for the first time as he turned back in the direction of his other self. He finally felt as if he was at home. Having been given a second chance to work as part of the Peace Corps, he knew there were many things he would have done differently. To begin with, his confrontation with this version of the Shao Kahn showed him he had powers that could come in handy in such a hostile environment.

"I must leave to assist my other warriors", the deity went on, "Will you be allright here?".

"Yes", Kazuya replied before turning his face to the thunder god, "Yes, definitely".

"If you wish to talk to me, simply call my name, I will reach you wherever you may be", Rayden added.

"Thanks", the mortal said after a brief silence, his attention still captivated by his mirror image, "I will keep that in mind".

He stared at his more peaceful self for one last time as the deity turned into a flash of electricity and disappeared. He inhaled and then exhaled for one more before heading in the other Kazuya's direction to greet that version of himself.

END

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All Tekken characters are owned by Namco.


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